Can Cyprus cope with the current flow of asylum seekers?

euronews (in English)

Their massive arrival, especially until spring, has motivated a heated debate about the limits of reception in the country. Euronews Witness travelled there to listen to very different points of views.

Transcript

00:00Every day you hear someone killed, someone dead, someone killed, someone dead, someone have a bomb.

00:07We have to preserve the character of the country.

00:11We are not dead, we are not alive. We are just in between.

00:17They affect our society in any way.

00:31This year, a significant number of asylum seekers have arrived in the Republic of Cyprus.

00:37Their massive arrival, especially until spring, has motivated a heated debate

00:42about the limits of accommodation in the country and how to face the situation.

00:47This report begins in the center that welcomes immigrants as soon as they arrive on the island.

01:01On the day of my visit, about 300 asylum seekers resided here.

01:06At the beginning of spring, there were about 1,100.

01:10Most come from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Yemen or Sudan.

01:17If I get back to Sudan, I have two choices.

01:21Or I enter the army, or I enter another army.

01:25If I enter this or this, then I will be killed.

01:30I left it to get rights and peace and freedom.

01:35I have dreams, I have a future.

01:38Here they are sheltered while their asylum applications are being processed.

01:42They are not allowed to leave.

01:46But this was not always the case. Until recently, they could leave the enclosure.

01:51Then the problems began.

01:54The owners of a nearby fertilizer company claim that some immigrants stole their material.

02:02Five in the morning, three people went to the station.

02:06They left with beds, blankets, everything.

02:11And now, five in the morning.

02:14They were sleeping inside, they were afraid, and I went out.

02:18I called the police, but nothing happened.

02:21They took me to the police station.

02:2512,000 euros.

02:2712,000 euros.

02:31The situation around this center illustrates the migratory challenges that Cyprus faces.

02:37Many fear that the arrival of immigrants, mostly Muslims,

02:41poses not only socio-economic and security challenges,

02:44but also an identity, demographic and existential threat to the country,

02:48whose northern area has been occupied by the Turkish army since 1974.

02:57Fears are evident in a town near the center.

03:01Cyprus simply cannot face this constant flow of immigrants

03:05arriving by sea or from the occupied north, maintains its mayor.

03:12Cyprus' population is about 800,000 people.

03:16If we have 250,000 people here who are foreigners,

03:21it means that 25% to 30% are foreigners.

03:25If we cannot tell them to go away because of the European Union policies,

03:31it means that in 10 years' period of time,

03:34bringing here their wives and kids,

03:36there will be more than a million.

03:38We are turning to Lebanon.

03:40We want to stay Greek Cypriots here in Cyprus.

03:47Cyprus, Lebanon

03:52This other center welcomes immigrants whose asylum applications are considered admissible.

04:00About 800 people receive accommodation, food, education, medicines,

04:05and pocket money here, and can leave freely during the day.

04:09Up to 96% of their asylum applications will end up being deducted.

04:13We were interviewed, but they rejected us.

04:16They didn't give us our papers.

04:18They took us to the police, but they didn't tell us anything.

04:22Every time we leave, it's been four months,

04:24and they only give us new applications.

04:27In response to the recent massive arrivals of Syrians,

04:31the center is being expanded.

04:33The government also suspended for 14 months

04:37the examination of all Syrian citizens' asylum applications.

04:41Syria in 2024 is definitely not the same as Syria in 2012, 2013, 2014.

04:49There are a lot of areas that are safe.

04:53We want to pass the message that Cyprus cannot continue to accept Syrians by the thousands.

05:00No matter what the pressure is,

05:02we do not change our policy and our effort to stay between the humanitarian spectrum, let's say.

05:14Anybody who deserves to be recognized will be recognized.

05:19While they wait for that eventual recognition as refugees,

05:23once outside the center,

05:25the asylum applicants receive a monthly assignment

05:28and are encouraged to integrate into society.

05:29But to stop a so-called effect,

05:32the government forbids them to look for work during the nine months after their arrival.

05:37Without legal employment or family support,

05:40many depend on humanitarian centers to obtain clothing or school supplies.

05:45This woman arrived in Cyprus from Afghanistan 10 months ago.

05:49I'm suffering with health issues.

05:52Because of that, I'm not able to have a normal life.

05:55And I'm just a single mom.

05:56God forbid, God forbid, if anything is happening to me,

06:00who's going to take care of my son?

06:02He's underage.

06:04The center also offers basic food.

06:08Most asylum applicants live well below the poverty line,

06:13explain the managers.

06:15Everyone assumes that because most migrants have telephones and smartphones

06:20and there's a lot of information, that they know everything.

06:23But they don't.

06:24The smugglers or people along the way will give them bad information,

06:27including the idea that if you have a child in Cyprus or in the European Union,

06:32that child is automatically granted EU either residency or citizenship.

06:37And this is not the case.

06:39And so, unfortunately, and a lot of women, truth be told,

06:42also face violence, sexual violence, rape,

06:45in this very difficult and delicate journey.

06:54The Orthodox Church of Cyprus has a very clear point of view on immigration.

06:59It accuses Turkey of trying to alter the demography of the country.

07:04Archbishop Georgios himself, the spiritual leader of the church,

07:07has agreed to speak with me.

07:12The archbishop tells me first that the church welcomes the needy with fraternal love.

07:19But due to the diplomatic dispute with Turkey,

07:22the problem in Cyprus is very different, he says.

07:27They affect our society in any way.

07:32They change our customs.

07:34These people have different customs and customs.

07:36They change our schools,

07:39because they enter our schools with a different mentality,

07:43with a different level of education.

07:45It is not the fact that in their majority there is another religion,

07:52which again affects our society.

07:54It is also the fact that we are a place with many problems of our own

08:03and we cannot accommodate such a large number of foreign people who come here.

08:09I am very happy.

08:12Pressured by the church, the far right and a growing social discontent,

08:17the government works to increase voluntary returns.

08:23Every month, about a thousand illegal immigrants agree to return to their countries.

08:28Cyprus is the fourth member state of the European Union with more voluntary returns,

08:33tells me the Minister of the Interior.

08:35Now he wants to advance even more,

08:36although the country faces a shortage of labor in sectors such as tourism.

08:41Shortage of labor should be solved with legal migration.

08:45And that's what we are advocating in Europe,

08:47and even Europe now is advocating the so-called legal pathways.

08:51So we strongly believe that we should combat illegal migration,

08:54because we think that member states should decide under international law

08:59who is going to cross their borders and not smuggling groups and traffickers.

09:04And yet there are stories of successful integration.

09:09Victim of torture in her native Cameroon,

09:13Justine received the refugee status in 2022.

09:17She manages this local tailor shop about to retire.

09:22She also plans to turn it into a community center for women victims of torture.

09:29My dream is not just making a living,

09:31it's to empower ladies, impact their life.

09:37I would be happy to see someone in the future saying that

09:41I became a fashion designer because of this space.

09:45That would be my happiness.

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