The government has turned its back on the demand for home care for parents and spouses of missing persons

Statement by AKEL MP Nikos Kettiros and President of the Parliamentary Committee on Refugees, Enclaved, Missing and War-stricken persons

28 September 2023

For some time now we have been raising the issue of the provision of home care for parents and spouses of missing persons with the Parliamentary Committee on Refugees. I have to say that all this time a the Government had made the pledge that this request would be met, so that parents and spouses of missing persons can be approved for home care allowance over and above the criteria and lengthy procedures of the Minimum Guaranteed Income.

During the discussion, criteria were set by the Government in terms of a maximum deposit that each beneficiary should have. Although it was difficult, we accepted it so that the project could move forward quickly.

Today we have been informed that the Government has done a U-turn on this issue and this request will not even be put forward to the Cabinet. This is an issue high on the Refugee Committee’s priorities and we thought it was closed.

We will be bringing the matter back to the Refugee Committee in the next few days to see how and on whose authority this particular issue has been frozen.