‘Zero tolerance’ on violence

Interior minister vows to get tough after fight at Pournara sees 33 arrests

Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou got tough on Tuesday, warning migrants that had caused trouble the previous night they would be deported if they failed to respect the hospitality of Cyprus.

Ioannou called for the deportation of 33 migrants, mostly Nigerian, who were arrested after a fight broke out at the Pournara migrants centre on Monday night between them and a group of Syrians after one group made a racist comment to the other following a football match.

Two people were also injured in the clashes and taken to Nicosia General, where they were treated and released.

Speaking from Spain on Tuesday, he said: “We are strict with whoever disrespects the hospitality given by the Republic of Cyprus.”

After meeting with his Spanish counterpart in Madrid, Ioannou said that as soon as he learned about the incident at Pournara he called for the immediate examination of the individuals’ asylum applications and their deportation, “even if they are allowed asylum, since they were involved in the fighting”.

He added that his instructions were to deport them immediately, and that is why the officers from the migration department were brought in to immediately look through the migrants’ applications.

Police said on Tuesday the migrants were taken to the Menoyia holding centre.

Government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said the deportation process for the migrants has begun.

“I will reiterate one more time that the government has zero tolerance towards violence from wherever it stems, and our focus is on the successful management of the migration issue,” he said.

On whether an eligible asylum seeker can be deported, he replied that even if the individual is an asylum seeker, if he breaks the law and causes trouble, then all legal procedures must be followed and now the orders of the interior minister are for their application to be examined immediately and if involved in the incidents, to be deported.

If some cannot be sent to their countries because they are not considered safe, “we will act in accordance with our international obligations”, Letymbiotis added.

Meanwhile, migrant non-governmental organisation (NGO) Kisa slammed the interior minister, saying he has no right to act as a judge and order the deportation of the 33 migrants, who need to be given due process.

“The interior minister’s decision that their asylum applications should be examined within the day clearly indicates that the examination will be formal to give a negative decision so that deportation orders can then be issued regardless of whether they have a well-founded fear of persecution or no,” the NGO said.

This decision is a violation of refugee law because one of the basic principles of asylum legislation is the fair process of examining the asylum application, it added.

Kisa added that they believe that Monday night’s incidents are not isolated, but unfortunately, they will not be the last either.

“It is to be expected that these incidents exist since the reception centre has de facto turned into a closed detention centre, where a huge number of people with such different needs have been gathered,” the organisation said.

They added that the government needs to assume its responsibilities to draw up an effective and comprehensive proposal regarding the reception conditions of people and offer them decent living conditions.

During his meeting with his Spanish counterpart Fernando Grande-Marlaska Gómez earlier in the day, Ioannou discussed his intent to propose to other EU member states to reevaluate Syria’s classification as unsafe.

He cited that the European Asylum Organisation has classed certain areas of Syria as safe, which warrants a discussion to re-evaluate the status of the country.

Ioannou also said that he will request the EU consider upgrading the mission of Frontex, the EU border agency, to take a more active role in the eastern Mediterranean.

“At the moment, the role of Frontex is more limited and its statute should probably be changed as well, so that its role is more deterrent, especially for areas like Lebanon, Egypt or other countries,” he said.

During their meeting the two ministers reviewed the current situation regarding migration and examined ways to further strengthen cooperation between the two countries for more effective management of the increased flows of irregular migrants, both within the MED5 group framework and that of EU bodies.