Raid on murder victim’s home part of general illegal migrant crackdown police say (Updated)

Police on Wednesday raided the apartment block where a man murdered two days ago had lived, as part of a crackdown on immigrants residing in Cyprus without the proper permits

Officers detained two individuals, one of whom had a warrant pending against him for cases being investigated by Nicosia CID.

The man, of Congolese origin, was fatally stabbed following an altercation at around 10pm in front of a kiosk in the Parisinos area on Monday.

Officers were called to the scene, where they found the victim lying unconscious on the ground with stab wounds to his back.

He was pronounced dead by ambulance staff who arrived after the police.

Two arrests were made on Tuesday as part of the investigations into the murder, with two Congolese men aged 25 and 36 remanded in custody for eight days.

Police spokesman Christos Andreou said that while the 25-year-old admitted to the crime, the 36-year-old made some claims that are still being investigated.

He added that the motive behind the murder has not been determined yet.

Andreou told the Cyprus News Agency that Wednesday’s raid was the fourth in a series of operations launched in the past month.

The first was held on November 14, with police finding 16 people without permits among 120 searched, with seven more found during the second.

He added that “similar searches took place in two more buildings after police received information about the possible presence of people residing here illegally or involved in crimes, always in collaboration with the social welfare services and local authorities”.

Wednesday’s raid also revealed that the victim’s former home was occupied by dozens of asylum seekers, many of whom were without electricity or running water.

Similar issues were noted during previous operations in central Nicosia where people were found living in unsanitary conditions.

Police also pressed charges against the owner of a number of shop units in a Nicosia village who was renting the space out to a large number of foreign nationals.

Responding to complaints from residents of Paphos villages about a lack of measures on part of the police, Andreou said they only intervene in criminal matters.

To illustrate, he mentioned the recent case in Chlorakas where four men and the owner of the building they lived in were arrested in violation of the decree banning international protection applicants from living in the village.