AFP
Metropolis Desk-
13 persons have been detained by Cyprus police after a march against immigrants and refugees in Limassol, the island’s second-largest city, descended into violence and saw crowds damaging property.
After roughly 500 people marched through the streets on Friday evening, there was turbulence that resulted in five injuries, according to the police.
Police reported that some establishments were vandalized as well as trash cans being set on fire. Some foreigners were allegedly attacked during the march, according to witnesses quoted by Cypriot media sites.
The protesters—some of whom were hooded and carried signs that said “Refugees not welcome”—were scattered by police using water cannons.
Days earlier, following violent skirmishes between Cypriots and migrants and refugees close to the western resort of Paphos, where authorities had begun evacuating Syrians from a condemned apartment complex, some 20 people were detained.
On social media, there was video of a group of Greek Cypriots yelling “Get out, get out” during the protest. Police claimed that when a group of Syrians and Greek Cypriots met face to face, the situation became violent. According to police, they deployed tear gas and water cannon to disperse both sides after roughly 500 Syrians organized a nonviolent counterprotest.
Cyprus, a member of the European Union, claims to be a “front-line country” on the Mediterranean migrant route that is unable to handle the influx of unauthorized immigrants and refugees.
The latest EU data shows Cyprus has the highest number of first-time asylum applications relative to population in the 27-member bloc.
Authorities said last week that migrants and refugees comprise an estimated 6 percent of the island’s population. The EU’s average is approximately 1 percent.
Cyprus’s refugee camps are congested. Ghettos—areas where people live in abject poverty—have developed in many countries.
Nikos Christodoulides, the president of Cyprus, called an urgent conference with the police commander, his justice and interior ministries, and others to discuss the unrest in Limassol on Saturday.
This emergency meeting follows the one held on Tuesday in response to the violence in Paphos.
A visibly irate Christodoulides told reporters, “There is not much that can be said other than the embarrassing photographs we have seen. They are unrelated to matters involving immigration.
“If everyone involved [in the Limassol incidents] loved or cared about our country, they would not have done such things that, above all, insult our country,”
According to the Cypriot newspaper Politis, there have been 413 racial assaults and events reported to the courts in the past 16 years in the Greek Cypriot government, and 125 cases involving these occurrences are still ongoing.
Data from the Ministry of Interior show a recent five-month decline of 53% in the number of migrants and refugees requesting asylum in Cyprus.
From March to July 2022, more over 10,600 persons requested asylum, compared to 4,976 during the same time period in 2019.
However, according to police data, there has been an increase in the number of migrants and refugees arriving by water, with more than 500 people entering in the last three months on 45 tiny fishing boats or inflatable dinghies, with the vast majority coming from Syria.
Source- Al-Jazeera
