Honory allowances for the 1974 prisoners of war the minimum recognition of their services

 

13 February 2022

AKEL addressed the Minister of Finance last April, highlighting the problems faced by the 1974 prisoners of war, as well as AKEL’s position for the provision of this honorary allowance set out in a written statement by Nikos Kettirou, AKEL MP, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Refugees, Enclaved Persons in the occupied areas, Missing Persons and War-stricken Victims.

The full statement follows:

“The Finance Ministry’s decision, on 11 February, to grant an allowance to the prisoners of war of 1974 is the minimum recognition of their services/contribution and at the same time it represents the culmination of the effort made over several months by a number of parliamentary parties.

AKEL had addressed the Finance Minister last April, pointing out the problems faced by the 1974 prisoners of war and our position for the provision of this allowance.

The issue has also been discussed by the Parliamentary Committee on Refugees in a series of meetings. The refusal on the part of the government led us to address the Minister of Finance last September, justifying the just claim of the prisoners of war. At a subsequent meeting and discussion of the matter we noted that it there is now no alternative for the government other than to grant this specific demand.

Although the specific decision is moving in the right direction, the Government’s response to a number of other just and logical demands of the 1974 disabled and resistance fighters against the fascist coup is still pending. The issues affecting the 1974 war-stricken victims should now be addressed holistically and not in a fragmented way.”