A/HRC/34/15 mistrust, and urged both sides to support that dialogue by ensuring that the trend continued towards full access to places of worship. He also encouraged them fully to engage civil society in the ongoing process with a view to fostering grass-roots support for a solution (ibid., paras. 42-43). 29. In the period from 9 December 2015 to 24 June 2016, UNFICYP continued to provide humanitarian support to 332 Greek Cypriots and 103 Maronites residing in the northern part of the island. UNFICYP facilitated the post-mortem transfer of six Greek Cypriots for burial in the north and continued to provide logistical support to and visit the Greek Cypriot primary and secondary schools on the Karpas Peninsula. While a Greek Cypriot nurse provided services at a local clinic in the Karpas Peninsula, the request for a Greek-speaking doctor to attend to the health needs of elderly Greek Cypriots remained outstanding (ibid., para. 17). C. Freedom of movement 30. According to article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State, as well as the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country. 10 In Cyprus, however, crossings between the northern and the southern parts of the island are still possible only through official crossing points (currently seven), a situation that obviously limits the freedom of movement. Between 1 December 2015 and 30 November 2016, UNFICYP reported 2,056,145 official crossings through the buffer zone. In July 2016, the Secretary-General noted the disappointment of both communities by delays in progress on the opening of the two new crossings at Lefka-Aplici/Lefke-Aplıç and Deryneia/Derynia, which had been announced in 2015 (S/2016/598, para. 27). 31. Although all Cypriots may, as long as they have their documents, cross the buffer zone to visit sites on an individual basis at any time and in either direction, the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights noted that collective visits with the intention of using sites in the north for religious purposes is subject to a lengthy and tedious process of approval that discourages such use and is felt as a humiliation by some. She also noted that persons of Turkish nationality, including young people who may be born on the island, cannot travel to the south for cultural events or to visit religious sites without special intervention. She furthermore stressed that understanding the link between cultural heritage and culture, social practices and interaction is critical to a human rights-based approach to the issue. Thanks to the opening of the crossings in Cyprus, people had returned to visit their old villages and neighbourhoods, their former churches, mosques and cemeteries, and thus had begun talking to each other again, re-establishing contacts and re-humanizing each other.11 32. In its twelfth report on the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No. 866/2004, the European Commission noted an increase in the number of Turkish Cypriots and a slight decrease in the number of Greek Cypriots crossing the Green Line in 2015 compared with previous years.12 Even though no incidents concerning crossings were reported in 2015, the Commission noted that, at the time of reporting, Turkish Cypriot buses carrying European Union citizens were still not permitted by the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus to cross into the government-controlled areas. 10 11 12 See also the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 12. See “Preliminary conclusions and observations by the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights” (see footnote 2). Report from the Commission to the Council, COM(2016) 494 final, 4 August 2016, p. 2. 9