Statement by the Immigration Policy Bureau of the C.C. of AKEL on asylum applicants
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 10 December 2020, Nicosia
a) On the Asylum and Immigration Service’s (YAM) refusal to accept asylum applications
For two weeks now, the Ministry of Interior has been refusing to accept applications for asylum at the YAM’s District Offices. Applications may be accepted, provided that the interested parties are transferred to the Emergency Reception Centre in Kokkinotrimithia (Pournara). Unfortunately, the Ministry is indifferent to the issue and it appears that after we contacted YAM it doesn’t intend to take the necessary steps to resolve the issue.
b) On asylum applicants trapped in Pournara
Pournara is the place where according to the legislation a refugee can stay for 3 days until the asylum application process is completed and then he/she is subsequently transferred to another place. The government must therefore find a place to receive asylum seekers until the examination of their application.
Pournara has a capacity of 1,000 people and today it is overcrowded, despite the fact that – according to the report released by the Commissioner for Human Rights – 200 residents meet the preconditions to be transferred from Pournara to a reception area. The Ministry of Interior unfortunately insists on leaving dozens of people confined in Pournara and at the same time dozens of others are on the street outside the YAM waiting to submit their application for asylum.
For a long time now, the Minister has been referring to the numbers of asylum applicants at every opportunity, but he is not proceeding with pursuing projects that will cover housing and other needs which according to the law and the funding received by the government must cover them.
c) On the confinement of asylum applicants in the Reception Area in Kofinou
For a month now, by the decree issued by the Ministry of Health, asylum applicants have been prohibited from leaving the area. As a result, more than 300 people are in a fenced-off area and without the necessary structures and services. They cannot go out to buy things that are not provided to them, etc.
As AKEL, we demand the government at long last deal seriously with these issues and not abandon these people to reach their limits, driving them to anti-social and violent behaviors. It takes willpower, a humanistic approach and the proper utilization of the millions of Euros that the state receives from European Union funds for their needs and integration.
