EDITORIAL: Illegals from Syria – are there lessons to be learnt for Cyprus?

Cyprus seems to be losing out in the international public relations game, with little it can do to effectively clamp down on the rise of illegal immigrants coming from Syria, shipped from Latakia to the Turkish-occupied port of Famagusta and then smuggled across the UN-patrolled Green Line.

“What could Cyprus have done more?” one could ask, following the recent despatch of the Foreign Minister, as well as presidential envoy Vassos Lyssarides to Damascus in order to “demand explanations” from a friendly country.

Fortunately part of that crisis did not blow up in our face, as Georgia decided to strike the Turkish-owned ferry running the Latakia-Famagusta line off its maritime register and avoid international trouble, as Tbilisi is spending millions promoting the Caucusus state as a “reputable” business centre.

But the ship continues to operate the route and the illegals continue to arrive.

So, how bad did we handle the situation? Was Erato Kozakou Marcoullis wrong to haste to Damascus? Definitely not, but such visits should have taken place much earlier and more frequently by this administration.

Are the Cyprus diplomats in Damascus incompetent or are they are understaffed with poor knowledge of the realities in Syria?

Is the Foreign Ministry in Nicosia incompetent? Understaffing and lack of comprehensive knowledge of the Middle East are two of its biggest weaknesses, despite plans to open more embassies in the area and have a presence in all the EU member states and applicant countries.

We failed to raise the issue properly as the matter of ships using the ‘closed port’ of Famagusta played higher on the national agenda, while we played down the problem of illegal migrants.

Nobody cares about the status of the port of Famagusta, but our European partners do care about having several hundred if not thousands of more migrants on their doorstep and a burden to their welfare systems.

Cyprus did not pull the right strings in Brussels, while the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak and its subsequent resolution showed how one can best utilise the available resources within the EU.

Syria, too, showed immaturity as it continues to allow the use of Latakia as a launch-pad for migrants seeking a better fortune in Europe. Our mistake was not using Damascus’ fumbling to our benefit, while at the same time playing the role of goodwill ambassador between Syria that continues to fall deeper into isolation and some of the US-led western Europeans that want to impose more sanctions on Assad’s regime.

Is it not about time Nicosia embarked on a serious diplomatic offensive, armed with trade missions to all the Middle East capitals? Or are we going to leave this on the back-burner too, in view of the upcoming elections?