Enough is enough for Kurds from Syria and they have decided to demonstrate today, 29 April outside the Ministry of Interior, in order to see the Minister and ask for his intervention to solve the serious problems they are encountering.
The death of their compatriot Kamiran Muhamad, 33 years old, father of four children who was driven to committing suicide in view of the desperate situation he was in after the refusal of the authorities to support him, was the last straw that compounded their despair.
As the movement of the West Kurdistan (in Cyprus) mentions in its letter to the Mnistry, their situation is “tragic and desperate. Some have applied for asylum before and have been rejected; as a result they are in Cyprus without residence or work permits but cannot go back either. In addition, many others have applied for asylum but their applications are still pending. With the current crisis, they are all unemployed for months now, while many who want to leave Cyprus cannot do so because they have no travelling or other papers.
Although they are forced to be here, they are not allowed to work because they do not have a residence permit or, as asylum seekers, they are allowed to work only in farming and agriculture, where in reality there are no jobs, as a result of which they are at risk of arrest and detention”.
Kurd refugees only ask for Cyprus to “apply the same policy as other European countries and to grant all their compatriots living in Cyprus either a full refugee status or subsidiary protection to those that do not meet the requirements for full refugee status”.
KISA, in solidarity with the just demands of all refugees in general and especially of Kurd refugees from Syria, calls on the authorities to meet their obligations arising out of the European acquis and international conventions for refugees in Syria.
UPDATE
The refugees are still outside the Ministry of Interior and they refuse to leave until they get an answer. There is a need for solidarity there, anyone willing to go there and express their solidarity please do so. They also need games for children, banner to write for their demands, food, some camps, water, clothes. Anyone wishing to help please do so either directly or indirectly by disseminating this message.