Disy meets Chlorakas community council after migrant protests (Updated)

Disy called for “immediate and drastic measures” related to the large influx of migrants in Chlorakas to ensure residents safety following a visit to the village on Friday.

A delegation of the right-wing party led by its deputy chairman Efthimios Diplaros met Chlorakas community leader and members of the community council on Friday.

Diplaros said the party confirmed that dozens of third-country nationals live without access to water and power supply. This is forcing them to steal electricity from neighbouring houses and EAC’s substation which has now been put under guard.

Some of them, Diplaros said, are entering people’s yards which is spreading “fear and concern” among the villagers.

“The issue of safety is a priority,” he noted.

He suggested the government find specific structures to host migrants.

Migrants who are here illegally should be deported, Diplaros said, while those who are here legally should be put in closed structures because they are offenders.

Furthermore, those who have been identified as to having committed crimes recently must be arrested, he stressed and urged police to be more severe.

The move to visit the village comes after a group of around 100 residents of an apartment complex staged a protest outside the community council offices on Monday evening after the building’s electricity supply was cut. The building is predominantly inhabited by third country nationals.

It was alleged by Chlorakas’ mukhtar Nikolas Liasides that the building’s electricity supply was cut after some of the residents were found to be stealing the supply from a nearby substation.

The protest was initially peaceful until a group of demonstrators moved towards the substation at around 10pm on Monday, allegedly trying to restore their electricity supply.

At this point, the police’s anti-riot unit intervened, and the residents began to throw rocks at the officers. The police deployed chemical irritants to disperse the protesters.

While announcing their visit, Disy said “the situation as it develops in Chlorakas is unacceptable and condemnable and at the same time exposes the inability of those in government to implement law and order”.

They said they wanted “to be informed firsthand by both the residence and authorities about the whole situation, and to discuss with them ways to solve the problem”.

“Citizens have a right to feel safe. Those being welcomed to Cyprus should know their obligations: to respect the laws of the country that hosts them and the property of its citizens”, they added.

They noted that “extreme behaviour and incidents of violence should be dealt with decisively and where appropriate with the measure of expulsion. For some time now, Disy has been warning about the dangers of this phenomenon of ghettoization. In addition to enforcing order and dealing with disorder, the problem should be tackled holistically and at its root”.

“The whole of society and all of our citizens expect us to meet the challenge, at the same time respecting our international obligations for those who are genuinely at risk in their countries and entitled to asylum and protection”, they added, saying they “stand by” the residents of the area.