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Wed, 10 May 2006
Asylum seekers at RoC
"AROUND 200 asylum seekers have pitched tents on Nicosia’s Eleftheria Square in a desperate plea to have their plea for human rights heard, vowing to remain indefinitely until the government helps their cause." from Cyprus Mail
http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.php?id=25771&cat_id=1
Asylum seekers pitch tents in desperate protest By Leo Leonidou AROUND 200 asylum seekers have pitched tents on Nicosia’s Eleftheria Square in a desperate plea to have their plea for human rights heard, vowing to remain indefinitely until the government helps their cause.
Men, women and children from all over the world, including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Iran, Iraq and Syria gathered early on Monday morning, before marching onto the Presidential Palace.
They carried banners and placards saying: ‘We came for protection, we found discrimination and hunger’, ‘We don’t have life, hope, future’, ‘Change migration policy now’, and ‘Equality for all – stop discrimination’.
As a diplomatic car drove by, a man holding a megaphone chanted, “where is?” with the angry crowd shouting back, “the United Nations.”
The protest was organised by support group KISA, as a show of support for immigrants who are incarcerated for months on end pending deportation, as well as the living conditions of political asylum seekers in Cyprus.
The asylum seekers questioned how they could be expected to survive without proper work, adding that they suffered the same bad conditions in Cyprus as they did in their homelands.
Azap Yuns, 27, said: “If you work, they arrest you and deport you without going to court. Is this democracy? Is this Europe?”
They issued a declaration, informing the public of their present situation.
“We, as asylum seekers in Cyprus, express our dissatisfaction with the daily difficulties that we face in this country,” they said. “We came here because of the oppression and persecution that we faced in our countries on a daily basis; therefore we are seeking a peaceful life and security that we couldn’t find back home.
“Unfortunately, here in Cyprus, the government doesn’t allow us to live as safely as asylum seekers in other countries. They don’t give us rights as set out by the United Nations charter or other international laws. They don’t give us permission to work or offer us homes or provide financial assistance. Unlike other countries, they only give us a paper to assure that we are asylum seekers, without giving us any help to survive until they resolve our situation.
“Therefore, we decided to gather and protest, asking for the following: the provision of jobs, homes and health assistance; a special government organisation – not the police – to be set up to investigate our affairs and the provision of lawyers and independent translators.
“If they won’t respond or fulfil our demands, we ask that the authorities allow us to emigrate to other countries.”
Bangladeshi Hussein Kalil said: “We will stay here for as long as it takes until the government gives us our rights. We want a normal life, the same as everybody else. Nothing more. Some of us have been here for over 10 years and the treatment we’ve had to endure is nothing short of disgraceful.”
His 23-year-old compatriot Aditaya Das said that the authorities, “never inform us of decisions and our rights. They just mess us around continuously and play with us.
Bureaucracy is far too drawn out. We need to be able to live here as human beings. We respect the laws of Cyprus so Cyprus should respect us.”
President of KISA (Action for Equality, Support and Anti-racism) Doros Polycarpou said: “We are asking for the immediate release of all political asylum seekers who have been held in prison for long periods of time. They are being held illegally according to the refugee laws of Cyprus, which state that if they cannot be deported then they must be granted temporary protection on humanitarian grounds.”
He said KISA would be appealing to foreign human rights organisations as well as the European Commission regarding the situation.
May 10, 2006
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