I went hungry for 4 days: Student who went to police for help claims

A student who was tired of living in north Cyprus without a resident permit for more than two years has reported himself to the police in other to help him get back home.

The individual, KB, a African student in north Cyprus on the afternoon of Saturday May 4 visited the Lefkosia Judicial Branch to ask for help to return to his country due to difficult situation he was experiencing in north Cyprus.

He was arrested in the process after it was determined that he was living in north Cyprus without a resident permit.

He was taken to court on Sunday May 5.

Police told the court that the suspect, came to the Lefkosia Judicial Branch at around 12:30 on May 4, 2024 and declared that he wanted to go to his hometown.

He was found to have been in the TRNC without a residence permit for 759 days since April 6, 2022, during the immigration check. 

Police said that an investigation should be carried out by the Immigration Branch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs regarding the suspect's residence permit. 

The police also stated that it would be investigated how and how the suspect lived while he was illegally living in the country and asked for him to be detained for 3 days.

The suspect, who had the opportunity to speak after the police, said, “I have no family, life is very difficult here. Before going to the police, I asked many of my friends for money. "Nobody gave it to me, and when I went hungry for 4 days, I went to the police," he said.

He was brought back to court again on Tuesday, May 7 after his initial 3 day detention. The judge again ordered that he be detained for 20 more days until trial.