Asylum-seekers stage protest in Nicosia

Asylum seekers held an anti-racism protest on Thursday in Nicosia, to demand the immediate examination of their applications.

A group of asylum seekers gathered near Paphos gate in the capital on Thursday morning, from where they marched to the civil registry and migration department on Archbishop Makarios avenue.

There, police said they submitted a petition. Media reported that participants said this concerned the poor living conditions at the Pournara migrant reception centre as well as the delays in examining their applications.

The protest ended by 11.30am.

Overcrowding at Pournara has been a long-standing issue, as Interior Minister Nicos Nouris had previously said that people are arriving faster than they can be moved out of the centre, originally built to host people for a maximum of 72 hours.

Earlier this year, following protests by unaccompanied minors who lived in Pournara, president Nicos Anastasiades visited the centre and promised to help the migrants.