Asylum seekers demonstrate
Cyprus has made progress in efforts to combat racism and discrimination but also has more work to do, says a report by the Council of Europe’s European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) released on Tuesday.
“Since the publication of the second report on Cyprus of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), on 3 July 2001, progress has been made in a number of the fields highlighted in that report. The legal and institutional framework against racial discrimination has been considerably strengthened, the extension of the mandate and powers of the Commissioner for Administration to deal with racial discrimination,” the report said.
It adds that “a number of important measures, including issuing of passports and other personal documents, have been taken to improve the position of the members of the Turkish Cypriot community, who, following the partial lifting of the restrictions to freedom of movement across the Green Line in April 2003, live and work in increasing numbers in the government-controlled part of Cyprus.”
The report says that the legal and institutional framework for the examination of international protection needs is now in place and police monitoring of racist incidents has been introduced.
However, it notes that a number of recommendations made in the previous report have not been implemented, or have only been partially implemented, such as the continuing lack of a comprehensive immigration and integration policy which has resulted in a particular vulnerability of immigrants, including domestic and other foreign workers, to human rights violations, exploitation and discrimination.
Asylum seekers demonstrate
The report’s publication came on the third day of protests by asylum-seekers in Cyprus, who gathered at Ministry of Interior and Minsitry of Labour offices to demand the unrestricted right to work and the end to maltreatment by the police and other authorities.
Currently they are only allowed to work in a very limited range of sectors, such as agriculture, forcing many into the black market where they have no protection against unscrupulous employers.
In its report, the ECRI recommends the urgent adoption of a comprehensive immigration and integration policy that respects the human rights of immigrants and ensures that the rights of asylum seekers are thoroughly respected.
ECRI also recommends that the Cypriot authorities raise awareness and improve the implementation and monitoring of the legal framework in force against racism and racial discrimination, including by providing adequate support to the Commissioner for Administration.
Nothing doing re dialogue with Turkish Cypriots
The report noted that new opportunities for promoting dialogue and reconciliation between the members of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities “still remain to be seized”.
“This is important in order to both reduce the negative impact of the continuing division of the island on the relations between these communities and gain further support from the population as a whole for a solution to this division,” it said.
ECRI says there is a need for a more proactive approach to developing contacts and good relations between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities and the need for education at all levels to increasingly reflect the needs of a culturally and ethnically diverse society.
The report covers only the situation in the part of Cyprus under the effective control of the Republic of Cyprus government.
