Even elementary hygiene measures are not being implemented in asylum seeker centre
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 20th May 2020, Nicosia
Yesterday’s decision by the Council of Ministers to declare the Pournaras reception centre an “infectious area” due to the appearance of scabies in people hosted there, unfortunately confirms in the worst possible way the concerns AKEL had from time to time expressed that even elementary hygiene measures unfortunately are not being implemented in centres where asylum seekers are concentrated.
The Pournaras reception centre supposedly exists to accommodate asylum seekers for a few days until the necessary procedures have been completed. The state subsequently has the obligation to transfer them to dignified reception areas. However, what is happening right now is that more than 600 people have been stacked in this specific centre for months.
To the protests of the people there about the meagre food being provided to them, now the diagnosis of scabies for a number of people has been added. While this is a phenomenon that can easily and simply be addressed, instead of dealing with it, the authorities simply isolated (if isolation is possible in such a centre) those who have fallen ill.
The Ministry of Interior and the relevant officials responsible for the centre must give a reply to the following questions in a specific way:
- What measures have been taken to ensure that all hygiene rules in the centre are being observed? If Cypriots lived there, would living conditions have been the same?
- How did the problem of scabies arise, if not from the non-compliance with elementary hygiene and cleanliness rules?
- What measures have been taken to treat and cure the patients, but also to protect the rest of the people living in the centre?
The Minister of Interior is called upon to provide answers to these questions, this time without any evasive replies, unnecessary tension and defensive attitudes.
The reception and accommodation of asylum seekers is demanded by European law and its costs are for the most part covered by EU funds. That is precisely why transparency and accountability on these issues need to be strengthened, not weakened.
