The President of the Republic replied in the style of 100 inhuman cardinals that “the Republic of Cyprus does not accept lessons in managing the issue of immigrants from anyone”.
It is both inhumane and stupid to keep a group of migrants, including women and minor children, in a dead zone in hot conditions. At least until yesterday, 14 people in the area of Aglantzia and 12 in the area of Akaki were in tents in the dead zone. Five others, including a minor child, were missing. One group comes from Afghanistan and the other from Syria. The former asked for asylum because they are in danger from the Taliban if they return to their country (mainly the women) and the Syrians because their country, due to the war, does not provide safe conditions for its people. No one wanted to consider their request.
We heard the government's argument, and in recent days we also see that underground consent of many Cypriots to such practices. It is true that in recent years Cyprus has been under serious pressure from immigration flows, disproportionate to its population and above all its economic data.
Humanity
On the other hand, it is a problem that we have to face, since it is not hidden under the carpet. In this particular case we are talking about small children who are baking in the heat, who are at risk of diseases due to a lack of basic hygiene. To the point that even the hardest souls cannot accept the recent statements of the President of the Republic in response to the United Nations. The representative of the UN Secretary General, the authorities of UNFICYP came out and condemned the actions of our country to accept these 30 people. No one asked for Cyprus to keep them, no one said to adopt them.
What we have been told is to abide by the UN resolutions and the pact on migration and asylum recently voted by the European Parliament. We have been asked to implement our obligations arising from International and European Law. Let's not forget the recent decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union which fined Hungary tens of millions for non-compliance with European Union asylum rules.
Instead, the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulidis, responded in the style of 100 inhuman cardinals that “the Republic of Cyprus does not accept lessons in managing the issue of immigrants from anyone. We have demonstrated many times our sensitivity to the specific issue, but also how we manage it”, so, he said, “it is possible for some who are far from Cyprus to make statements”.
Mr. President concluded an inexpensive statement with his well-known chatter: “We have conveyed through the competent services of the Republic, our readiness to help manage this problem,” adding “that this is a challenge that the government is ready to take on.” manage”.
Really, we are tired of interpreting these general and vague statements of Mr. President on all issues, so we urge him to be more specific and, above all, more practical. We invite him to leave his air-conditioned office, get into his ultra-luxury car and drive over there to Aglantzia and look that little Afghan in the eyes. We ask him to explain to the little one, who is growing up losing all faith in people and humanity, exactly what he means when he says that “we have proven many times our sensitivity to this particular issue, but also how we manage it”.
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Seferis
Really, how do we manage it, Mr. President? We once had similar problems and complaints as Cypriots, which George Seferis conveyed in his poem “Salamina of Cyprus”: “Lord, it hurts to remember how this murder took place; the robbery, the deception, the selfishness, the withering of love; Lord, let's root them out…”.
“Voice of the Lord upon the waters. The island of the hearth”. Really which voice and who hears it? It used to be ours. Today this voice is the cry of the little refugee child who is frightened by the waves while traveling in the raging Mediterranean, it is the cry of the father who, after 4 days in his arms with his dead entrails, is forced to throw it into the sea. It is the voice of little Aylan Kyurdi, the three-year-old Syrian who was last heard before his lifeless body washed up on Turkish shores. Little Aylan thankfully did not become another anonymous number, to be added to those drowning in the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe. It has since been a notorious nightmare that haunts the sleep of those still conscious.
Dead zone
Such incidents have happened to us again in the dead zone and will continue to happen every day as long as the Cyprus issue is not resolved and as long as we have to monitor an area of 183 kilometers from Kato Pyrgos to Deryneia. This obsession that the refugee tactic of catalyzing the dead zone will set a precedent is laughable to say the least. Half of the immigrants living in Pournara today come from crossings through the Green Line. These issues should have been settled with the Turkish Cypriot authorities and let some people stop talking about indirect recognition. Today they are transported to the free areas legally from prefabricated houses, with wood from the Turkish forests, to cherries from Kerasunda. Today half of the Greek Cypriots go in and out and fill their cars with petrol from the occupied territories, but we have a problem if some people in need pass through the free areas. After all, this is the legal state, the European state, the state which should be an example for the entire region, because it is a rule of law above all. In conclusion what the Police did to arrest migrants who left and take them back to the buffer zone was unacceptable and above all illegal. When a person asks for asylum you examine their request. You have the right to approve or reject it. You have no right to throw him back into the sea from whence he came. Moreover, in the last few months, Cyprus created a good precedent for managing immigrants with the Minister of the Interior, Konstantinos Ioannou, as a result of which we began to be given international credit. We don't need extremes once the matter is under control.
Obligation
Let's finally try to be serious. Asylum has been invented since ancient times by the Greeks who established rules for beggars, i.e. the manner of behavior and hospitality towards people who fled to their cities and homes and asked for protection. Today there is a European law. The new migration pact provides for, among other things, faster processing of asylum applications within 12 weeks, more effective returns for those who do not receive asylum, while enshrining mandatory solidarity with first-receiving states through an emergency mechanism in the event of a sharp increase in the flow of migrants. We all realize that not everything is rosy but let's not forget the visit of von der Leyen and the payment of one billion to Lebanon to control the flows. Let's not forget the billions given by the EU to Turkey and Egypt to relieve oppressed people from Asia and Africa. Let us understand that European solidarity is manifested in states that respect the laws and not in phobic governments like those of Poland and Hungary. What does Nikos Christodoulidis Want? Turn into Little Orban? I left something for the end: Let the experts examine the oxymoron. Is it right to pay immigrants to leave while we are woefully short of labor?
