South Cyprus village complains of asylum seekers taking over the village

Residents of the Kokkinotrimithia area in south Cyprus has lashed out the government over the presence of a large number of asylum seekers in the area claiming that they will soon become minorities in their village adding that they wont allow the village become an African area.

Speaking on the issue on Tuesday, Christakis Meleties, community leader of the village of Kokkinotrimithia, said contrary to reassurances by state officials the situation worsened by the day. He recounted the issues facing the local community as a result of the influx of asylum seekers at the Pournara reception centre.

He alleged that traffickers stop by at the Pournara facility and drop off irregular migrants. Citing police data, he said there was a massive increase in the use of cocaine and that Pournara “is full of drugs.”

The community leader reported that more than 1,500 foreign nationals wander outside the facility sleeping under trees, defecating outdoors and dumping their garbage, with the local community having to pay to “clean up the waste of the foreigners.”

He predicted that “in ten years we will be a minority in Cyprus, and the majority will be Muslims…the government may have decided that we should become an African area, but we won’t accept it.”

“Let them take the foreigners to the park of the presidential palace, to the parks in Limassol, and not leave them in the villages of our area, he said. Foreigners are sleeping in the yards of houses, and every so often the police are called to remove them.

“In Poland and Hungary they install electrical cables to prevent them [immigrants] crossing through. Are these countries not members of the European Union? Let our government representatives go to Congo to arrange for the transfer of foreigners instead of waiting on Brussels to do something.”

The community leader called on the government to solve the problem immediately. The affected communities plan to stage a protest at the presidential palace.

The centre is located outside the village of Kokkinotrimithia with asylum seekers from some 30 ethnicities and seven religions.

Alekos Tryfonides, an MP with the Dipa party, said that local residents were rightfully indignant.

He spoke of reports of harassment of female pupils by “Africans,” thefts from premises and homes, and drug use by asylum seekers.

He said homes were rented out to one or two persons, but then 15 people or more ended up living there.

The government has pledged to hire 300 special constables to patrol and monitor the ‘Green Line’ through which the vast majority of irregular migrants cross.

Cyprus Mail