Buffer zone communities to stage demo against barbed wire

A demonstration against the barbed wire fences and gates along the buffer zone will be held on Sunday September 25 by affected villagers in the west of Nicosia, they said on Thursday.

During the protest – by resident of Astromeritis, Peristerona, Akaki, Denia and Mammari – the main road to Troodos by the Akaki packing plant will be closed.

“In no way do we want to cause an inconvenience to people, but due to the circumstances we are forced to take more drastic measures. The barred gates installed along the southern side of the buffer zone, on roads leading to our properties will cause a multitude of problems,” an announcement said.

The initiative against barbed wire has carried out meetings with members of the government, parties and other political actors and has sent letters to the interior ministry, the House and the Ombudswoman aiming at informing and raising awareness over the problems facing the area’s residents and to point out the impact on the Cyprus problem as a result of the placement of the barbed wire.

“Thus far there has been no special response from the relevant authorities, and this forces us to escalate our measures,” the announcement added.

The initiative demands the immediate removal of the barbed wire and gates from the affected communities to not leave them exposed to the occupying forces and to whoever roams undisturbed in the yards of their homes and business premises, to not expose them to risk and to not deprive them of the right of free movement.

They called for the reevaluation of the policy for dealing with immigration.

The initiative calls on everyone to participate in the demonstration on September 25 at 10.30am in Akaki to urge the government to reevaluate the barbed wire policy as a measure of intercepting irregular immigrants and adopting a more effective policy which will not victimise its citizens.