The failure to open a school in the occupied Kormakitis village is victimises the children and families of the enclaved and resettled people
Statement by AKEL MP Christos Christofias, AKEL MP after the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Refugees, Enclaved, Missing Persons and War-stricken People
11 July 2023
Today in the Parliamentary Committee on Refugees we discussed, among other things, the issues related to the enclaved persons in the occupied areas. Two main priorities emerge from the issues been raised, which need to be addressed immediately.
Firstly, the need to increase the allowance provided for enclaved persons, which has remained at EUR 371 for several years now. The MP’s of AKEL have called for the allowance to be increased at least to the level of the minimum guaranteed income, namely EUR 480. We consider it an essential necessity to revise the allowance upwards, especially bearing in mind the current socio-economic conditions,
Secondly, with regards to the schools operating in the occupied areas, both in the villages of Rizokarpaso and Kormakitis. We stressed the need for the timely staffing of the schools in Rizokarpaso to avoid a repeat of any shortcomings and delays at the start of the new school year. As far as Kormakitis [Maronite village] is concerned, for a month now, on every occasion, the Ministry of Education has been assuring the Parliamentary Committee that from September a primary school and a kindergarten will be opened in the occupied Kormakitis village. Today we have been informed that not only will the school not operate, but that the brand new building of the ‘Cooperation Centre’, which has been built with European funds with the aim of operating as a school, is unfit to accommodate pupils.
Already since last week, AKEL has written to the Minister of Education on this issue and awaits her official response.
In the wait for the Christodoulides Government to “find its feet” and in the initial time we naturally gave it, we have just lost an entire school year for the pupils at Kormakitis.
