Archive
€1,500 and a one-way ticket: how Cyprus deports Syrian refugees with EU support
Cyprus has been unlawfully detaining Syrian refugees for years, and has coerced thousands of people to go back to Syria through a supposedly "voluntary" return programme. Behind those "voluntary" returns lies a lack of access to asylum procedures, intimidation by officials, and appalling detention conditions. The European Commission and Frontex have supported the programme, despite internal concerns. EU funds for the Cypriot deportation regime run into the tens of millions of euros, but the real price is paid by Syrian refugees. Read More
Civic space in Cyprus must be protected
KISA is a Cypriot NGO that works for "an all-inclusive, multicultural society, free of racism, xenophobia and discrimination," that has been the subject of ongoing and worsening attacks from the authorities and far-right groups. The most extreme such attack came on 5 January, when a bomb set off outside KISA's office broke all the windows, and destroyed much of the equipment and the organisation's archives. In response, over 40 organisations from across Europe, including Statewatch, are calling on Cypriot and European authorities to take action to condemn the bombing, launch an investigation, and halt the attacks upon KISA. Read More
Cyprus: Racist “pogrom” against Syrian refugees
The Cypriot anti-racist organisation KISA has denounced a racist "pogrom" against Syrian refugees in Chloraka, in which various far-right groups attacked adults, children and property. The "well-organised and coordinated attack" grew from "the fertile ground created by the state migration and asylum policies, which are based on systemic racism and discrimination, in flagrant violation of human rights as well as EU and international law," says a press release from KISA. The police, meanwhile, are accused of having "tolerated and apathetically at first watched the violent attacks and other offences," until they eventually made "three arrests, two of which were of Syrian refugees according to media reports, victimising once again the victims of the attacks." Read More
Pegasus spyware scandal: Cypriot government response to European Parliament questionnaire
"The Republic of Cyprus reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the promotion, protection and effective enjoyment of human rights, both domestically and internationally, and acknowledges that the matter currently inquired by the PEGA Committee has raised questions regarding the actual status of certain rights and freedoms in the EU itself." Read More
EU: Mediterranean migration plan underpinned by more policing and border enforcement in repressive states
An extraordinary meeting of the EU Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council will take place tomorrow to discuss migration. The European Commission has published a plan setting out the general direction for action in the central Mediterranean. Other documents obtained by Statewatch shed more light on the matter: more intensive police cooperation with repressive states and externalisation of borders instead of relocation of refugees, in full knowledge of the dire situation for people seeking safety, in particular in Libya. Read More
FRONTEX & EASO complicity in the violations of refugee law by the Cypriot government
Press release published by KISA on 18 October 2021. Read More
Cyprus: 37 organisations call for the reinstatement of anti-racist NGO
An open letter signed by 37 organisations, including Statewatch, denounces the ongoing harassment of KISA and calls on the Cypriot authorities to reinstate their official registration as a non-governmental organisation (NGO). Read More
State xenophobia and criminalisation of solidarity in Cyprus: KISA is again under attack by government
Communiqué from the Migreurop network on the deregistration of the Cypriot anti-racist NGO KISA. The organisation was removed from the country's register of NGOs, accused of not complying with administrative procedures. However, the organisation has repeatedly been subject to the hostility of the government and officials. Read More
Cyprus: Call for action following conviction of human rights organisation for “defamation” and “harmful forgery”
KISA, a human rights organisation based in Cyprus, was recently convicted by the Supreme Court of “defamation” and “harmful forgery” over a 2010 document calling on the government to rescind the appointment of Christos Clerides and Xenis Xenofontos to the Management Board of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA). Read More
Syrian refugees in Cyprus pushed back to Turkey
"On 15 May 2020, the administration of the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) forcibly sent 100 Syrian refugees, including unaccompanied children, to Mersin, Turkey. They have been transferred to Kilis, near the Syrian border, where they are now. Most of the 100 Syrian refugees – 56 – are children and women and girls are in the majority. Read More