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Cyprus: Hunger strike by Syrian Kurds
asylum seekers
22.5.2006
By
Alexia Saoulli
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Asylum seekers yesterday
launched a hunger strike in a desperate effort to
get authorities’ attention.
Immigrant support group KISA president Doros
Polycarpou told the Sunday Mail 10 Kurds from Syria
decided to stop eating after talks with Interior and
Labour Ministry officials broke down.
The immigrants will have been demonstrating exactly
two weeks tomorrow. Initially they had been camping
out in Nicosia’s Eleftheria Square but on Friday
moved to the Red Cross premises.
The asylum seekers want the right to work without
limitations, government housing, access to benefits
where the right to work is refused, medical and
pharmaceutical care, an end to police mistreatment,
an end to deportations to countries which persecute
them, and genuine examinations by an independent
body of each asylum application.
Polycaropu said: “Representatives from various
Interior and Labour Ministries’ services came here
[to the Red Cross] today and it was agreed that the
problems regarding the asylum seekers’ pink slips,
medical card and welfare benefits would be dealt
with as early as Monday or Tuesday.”
The human rights activist explained a number of
asylum seekers whose pink slips were up for renewal
had been turned away by immigration officials
without examining each case.
The officials had promised to look into the matter
and assure each asylum seeker whose application was
justified would be given a pink slip. They also
conceded they would give a medical card allowing the
immigrants access to free medical care and benefits
as soon as possible.
Last week the Social Services had said these
benefits would be given on condition the immigrants
returned home.
Polycarpou explained that the problem which remained
was the ministries’ refusal to start up direct talks
between ministry representatives and the immigrants.
Instead they wanted to send a memo round to all
ministers telling them to take the matter into
consideration.
But although the demonstrators were tired and
despite pressures from authorities to pack up and go
home, they had not intention of giving up, he added.
Earlier in the day police sent buses to the Red
Cross and threatened to forcefully remove the men,
women and children from the premises.
“After some time it was agreed that if the men slept
outside at night and only the women and children
slept indoors then they could stay.
They are all allowed inside the building during the
day. This was deemed necessary for safety reasons,”
Polycarpou said.
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