Seriousness in handling issues and not populism is demanded

 

Article by Stavri Kalopsidiotou – International Law expert, Head of Human Rights Policy and member of the Central Committee of AKEL

20 April 2024, “Haravgi” newspaper

The increase in refugee and migrant flows is a real issue. Throughout human history, insecurity, poverty and climate change have always driven people to search for new prospects, survival and better living conditions. Something similar is happening today. With one major difference: having experienced the devastating consequences of ongoing imperialist wars, humanity has moved on to regulate international relations and recognised the universality of human rights. Among these are the rights of refugees, which are included in the 1951 Geneva Convention and form part of the customary law that binds both states and international organisations.

It is therefore within this framework that AKEL is seeking and proposing solutions at a time when Cyprus is facing the challenges posed by the increase in the number of people fleeing from third countries to the EU. Solutions that do not promote repression, that do not treat refugees and migrants as criminals and that do not invest in misguided deterrence policies that have proven to have failed.

We shall continue to highlight the illegal nature of the violent push-backs that the government deliberately calls sea patrol operations. Their actions are prohibited by Article 33 of the 1951 Geneva Convention, Article 78(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the ECHR’s condemnatory case law.

AKEL will insist on the necessity of adopting a holistic approach based on four pillars: (a) hosting, reception and accommodation in dignified places; (b) swift and fair examination of applications; (c) an efficient and lawful return procedure; and (d) the implementation of horizontal integration policies for those whose applications are found to be well-founded.

The suspension of the processing of Syrian refugee applications, which only adds to the already long list of pending cases and pushes the possibilities of a dignified reception to the limit, with obvious consequences, cannot be the forefront of the government’s policies and those who support them.

Let them join us in condemning, as we do, the State of Israel, which, by continuing its aggressive war in Gaza, its bombing of Syria and Lebanon, is forcing many more people into becoming refugees.

Let them join us in demanding that the EU exert pressure on Israel by activating the possibilities offered by the Association Agreement.

Let them join us in projecting the just demand for ending the Dublin Regulation and sharing asylum seekers across all EU member states on the basis of their population and capacities. Which is instead championed by the EPP and hypocritically maintained by the government and DISY by voting in favour of the EU Pact on Immigration and Asylum.

Unfortunately, populism and the escalation of bigoted rhetoric, now expressed from official lips too, is totally in line with the dangerous narratives promoted by the far right, threatening our overall understanding of human rights and fostering the racism and xenophobia that just a few months ago led to the fascist pogroms in Chloraka and Limassol.

Such positions not only explain the far-right move of the former DISY Vice-President M.Pelakanos [to defect and join far-right ELAM], but reveal that there are many such DISY officials who can get a transfer from DISY to ELAM.