AKEL on World Refugee Day
20 June 2022, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia
The UN has designated 20 June as World Refugee Day. Millions of people are being displaced and turned into refugees every day, forced to leave their homes and families seeking to escape the dangers that threaten their lives every day.
The Cypriot people have experienced from its own bitter experience what it means to be displaced as refugees, the result of the betrayal committed in 1974 and the foreign interventions in our country. Cyprus, a country that sent thousands of its people as refugees and migrants abroad, is today a country that welcomes refugees and migrants. It goes without saying that it has an obligation to provide humane conditions for refugees, to apply international law and European conventions.
It is equally self-evident that the major EU states have an obligation to assume their share of the refugee and migration problem. The Dublin system which traps thousands of people in the host countries, including Cyprus, has failed. Now is the time for the major states of the European Union to assume their responsibilities and for there to be a fair distribution of refugee flows according to each state’s capabilities.
AKEL assures that it will continue to fight for:
- A modern, effective asylum system based on international law, international conventions and European obligations that bind our state with regard to asylum, human rights and solidarity with those in danger.
- The creation of legal and safe routes for refugees.
- Immediate cessation of the practice of refoulement.
- Ensure dignified places of accommodation for refugees, addressing their traumatic experiences in a humane way.
- Eliminate the rings/gangs exploiting the asylum system to promote exploitation and trafficking.
- The elaboration of a Common European Asylum Policy providing high levels of protection for applicants ensuring their access to genuine legal protection, based on practical solidarity and equal burden sharing.
AKEL sends a militant greeting to the refugees of Cyprus who have been struggling for years for a solution to the Cyprus problem, reunification of the country and the return to their homes, but also to all the refugees all over the world who are the victims of imperialist, capitalist impunity.
