Submission of a Memorandum to the Interior Minister on the the International Day of Action against Racism and Fascism

 

21 March 2022

Today on the occasion of the International Day of Action against Racism and Fascism, a delegation of organisations met today with the Minister of Interior Mr. Nouris to whom they delivered a Memorandum. With this Memorandum, the signatory organisations expressed our full solidarity with every refugee and underlined their firm position that all people, regardless of their origin and religion, must enjoy the human rights and freedoms stemming from international and European treaties.

Conveying our concern regarding government policies and practices that do not characterise any modern state, we made a number of demands which we expect to be at long last taken into account.

Here is the text of the Memorandum that was delivered:

“On the occasion of the International Day of Action Against Racism and Fascism, our small country raises the flag of peace and solidarity, of the constant struggle against racism, fascism and xenophobia.

In recent years we have been living through scenes of other, barbaric, times. Today, in the age of rapid technological development, in the age when human rights should be self-evident, the seas are washing up the bodies of dead children who never managed to find land. People are still trafficking people, people are still throwing people into the sea to drown, people are cramming people in inhumane conditions and leaving them there to be imprisoned indefinitely without the bare necessities.

The ruling circles, both in the EU and in Cyprus, who preach human rights and freedom, are building walls and barbed wires to push back refugees.

Furthermore, the government of the Democratic Rally party has put its heavy stamp on such absurd policies, consenting to the Dublin system that traps thousands of people in the first country of arrival and implementing a migration and refugee policy that multiplies problems instead of solving them.

With this Memorandum, we express our strong opposition to the placing of barbed wire in free areas and to the pushbacks, which are completely illegal and are putting human lives in danger. We also express our indignation at the inhumane living conditions in the Pournara reception centre for migrants and elsewhere, particularly with regard to the conditions of residence of unaccompanied and other children and people from other vulnerable groups.

We call once again on the Government to:

• Restructure the migration/refugee policy it continues to pursue, ensuring humane reception conditions and refraining from implementing practices that violate European and international law.
• Make use of the millions in funds allocated to the Republic of Cyprus to implement a transparent, fair and effective refugee and migration policy that will directly protect those in need of protection, decisively confront traffickers and migration exploitation rings and effectively combat the exploitation of foreign workers.

In conclusion, we express our solidarity with the Ukrainian people who are suffering the consequences of the Russian invasion. It is outrageous and hypocritical that there is now a huge difference in the treatment of refugees from Ukraine compared to refugees from other countries.

We express our solidarity with every refugee, every persecuted person, and reiterate our firm position that the human rights of all, everyone, regardless of origin, religion and migration/refugee status, must be respected, in accordance with the rule of law and as derived from international and European treaties.

 

AKEL – Progressive Party of the Working People

PEO – Pancyprian Federation of Labour

EDON – United Democratic Youth Organisation

POGO – Pancyprian Federation of Women’s Organisations

EKA – Union of Cypriot Farmers

CPC – Cyprus Peace Council

KISA – Movement for Equality, Support, Anti-Racism

‘Cyprus Stop Trafficking’

Socialist’s Initiative

Workers’ Democracy

Left Wing

PROGRESSIVE Movement of Students

PROGRESSIVE Movement of Secondary Scholl Teachers

PROGRESSIVE Movement of Primary School and Kindergarten Teachers”