Chlorakas residents protest, say village ‘no longer peaceful and quiet’

Chlorakas residents held an anti-migration demonstration on Saturday holding banners which read “#NoMoreFakeRefugees” and called on the government to act.

Organisers of the demonstration also said they plan to set up night-time patrol groups on a voluntary basis to monitor neighbourhoods in Chlorakas.

“We are not racists but we are against those who do not respect the law, the culture, the language, and religion of Cyprus,” the demonstrators said.

Head of the Chlorakas community council Nikolas Liasides said that this the third such demonstration taking place, referring to a housing complex – understood to be inhabited by migrants – which has not been evacuated.

Liasides stated that an order was issued by a district official to close the area – dated November 2021 – but that “unfortunately the state is unable to evacuate it, fence off the specific area, and guard it until the ownership of the complex is legally clarified”.

A housing complex in Chlorakas was reported to have 600 third-country nationals living there in 2022.

Just last week, three arrests were made at a Chlorakas residential complex over electricity theft.

Liasides went on to say that the migration issue is one which “will be solved by us”, emphasising that the state remains ineffective while the frustration of residents overflows.

Residents at the demonstration said that they used to have a peaceful and quiet neighbourhood but that has since changed, according to comments carried by the Cyprus News Agency.

“Those who loot our gardens and homes of Chlorakas are unwelcome,” they added.

Chlorakas residents held a previous demonstration in January 2022 as they complained over ghettoisation of the area following an influx of illegal migrants and against a backdrop of heightened police operations after two massive fights involving third country nationals.

At the time, Liasides described the situation in the village as “very problematic” for the past three years saying that residents feel insecure.

“Unfortunately the situation has reached the point of no return,” he said. “Ghettoisation must be avoided.”

The protest came after two brawls in Paphos and Chlorakas that involved more than a hundred third country nationals, mostly Syrians, it was reported at the time.