Their massive arrival, especially until spring, has motivated a heated debate about the limits of reception in the country. Euronews Witness travelled there to listen to very different points of views.
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00:00Every day you hear someone killed, someone dead, someone killed, someone dead, someone have a bomb.
00:07We have to preserve the character of the country.
00:11We are not dead, we are not alive. We are just in between.
00:17They affect our society in any way.
00:31This year, a significant number of asylum seekers have arrived in the Republic of Cyprus.
00:37Their massive arrival, especially until spring, has motivated a heated debate
00:42about the limits of accommodation in the country and how to face the situation.
00:47This report begins in the center that welcomes immigrants as soon as they arrive on the island.
01:01On the day of my visit, about 300 asylum seekers resided here.
01:06At the beginning of spring, there were about 1,100.
01:10Most come from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Yemen or Sudan.
01:17If I get back to Sudan, I have two choices.
01:21Or I enter the army, or I enter another army.
01:25If I enter this or this, then I will be killed.
01:30I left it to get rights and peace and freedom.
01:35I have dreams, I have a future.
01:38Here they are sheltered while their asylum applications are being processed.
01:42They are not allowed to leave.
01:46But this was not always the case. Until recently, they could leave the enclosure.
01:51Then the problems began.
01:54The owners of a nearby fertilizer company claim that some immigrants stole their material.
02:02Five in the morning, three people went to the station.
02:06They left with beds, blankets, everything.
02:11And now, five in the morning.
02:14They were sleeping inside, they were afraid, and I went out.
02:18I called the police, but nothing happened.
02:21They took me to the police station.
02:2512,000 euros.
02:2712,000 euros.
02:31The situation around this center illustrates the migratory challenges that Cyprus faces.
02:37Many fear that the arrival of immigrants, mostly Muslims,
02:41poses not only socio-economic and security challenges,
02:44but also an identity, demographic and existential threat to the country,
02:48whose northern area has been occupied by the Turkish army since 1974.
02:57Fears are evident in a town near the center.
03:01Cyprus simply cannot face this constant flow of immigrants
03:05arriving by sea or from the occupied north, maintains its mayor.
03:12Cyprus' population is about 800,000 people.
03:16If we have 250,000 people here who are foreigners,
03:21it means that 25% to 30% are foreigners.
03:25If we cannot tell them to go away because of the European Union policies,
03:31it means that in 10 years' period of time,
03:34bringing here their wives and kids,
03:36there will be more than a million.
03:38We are turning to Lebanon.
03:40We want to stay Greek Cypriots here in Cyprus.
03:47Cyprus, Lebanon
03:52This other center welcomes immigrants whose asylum applications are considered admissible.
04:00About 800 people receive accommodation, food, education, medicines,
04:05and pocket money here, and can leave freely during the day.
04:09Up to 96% of their asylum applications will end up being deducted.
04:13We were interviewed, but they rejected us.
04:16They didn't give us our papers.
04:18They took us to the police, but they didn't tell us anything.
04:22Every time we leave, it's been four months,
04:24and they only give us new applications.
04:27In response to the recent massive arrivals of Syrians,
04:31the center is being expanded.
04:33The government also suspended for 14 months
04:37the examination of all Syrian citizens' asylum applications.
04:41Syria in 2024 is definitely not the same as Syria in 2012, 2013, 2014.
04:49There are a lot of areas that are safe.
04:53We want to pass the message that Cyprus cannot continue to accept Syrians by the thousands.
05:00No matter what the pressure is,
05:02we do not change our policy and our effort to stay between the humanitarian spectrum, let's say.
05:14Anybody who deserves to be recognized will be recognized.
05:19While they wait for that eventual recognition as refugees,
05:23once outside the center,
05:25the asylum applicants receive a monthly assignment
05:28and are encouraged to integrate into society.
05:29But to stop a so-called effect,
05:32the government forbids them to look for work during the nine months after their arrival.
05:37Without legal employment or family support,
05:40many depend on humanitarian centers to obtain clothing or school supplies.
05:45This woman arrived in Cyprus from Afghanistan 10 months ago.
05:49I'm suffering with health issues.
05:52Because of that, I'm not able to have a normal life.
05:55And I'm just a single mom.
05:56God forbid, God forbid, if anything is happening to me,
06:00who's going to take care of my son?
06:02He's underage.
06:04The center also offers basic food.
06:08Most asylum applicants live well below the poverty line,
06:13explain the managers.
06:15Everyone assumes that because most migrants have telephones and smartphones
06:20and there's a lot of information, that they know everything.
06:23But they don't.
06:24The smugglers or people along the way will give them bad information,
06:27including the idea that if you have a child in Cyprus or in the European Union,
06:32that child is automatically granted EU either residency or citizenship.
06:37And this is not the case.
06:39And so, unfortunately, and a lot of women, truth be told,
06:42also face violence, sexual violence, rape,
06:45in this very difficult and delicate journey.
06:54The Orthodox Church of Cyprus has a very clear point of view on immigration.
06:59It accuses Turkey of trying to alter the demography of the country.
07:04Archbishop Georgios himself, the spiritual leader of the church,
07:07has agreed to speak with me.
07:12The archbishop tells me first that the church welcomes the needy with fraternal love.
07:19But due to the diplomatic dispute with Turkey,
07:22the problem in Cyprus is very different, he says.
07:27They affect our society in any way.
07:32They change our customs.
07:34These people have different customs and customs.
07:36They change our schools,
07:39because they enter our schools with a different mentality,
07:43with a different level of education.
07:45It is not the fact that in their majority there is another religion,
07:52which again affects our society.
07:54It is also the fact that we are a place with many problems of our own
08:03and we cannot accommodate such a large number of foreign people who come here.
08:09I am very happy.
08:12Pressured by the church, the far right and a growing social discontent,
08:17the government works to increase voluntary returns.
08:23Every month, about a thousand illegal immigrants agree to return to their countries.
08:28Cyprus is the fourth member state of the European Union with more voluntary returns,
08:33tells me the Minister of the Interior.
08:35Now he wants to advance even more,
08:36although the country faces a shortage of labor in sectors such as tourism.
08:41Shortage of labor should be solved with legal migration.
08:45And that's what we are advocating in Europe,
08:47and even Europe now is advocating the so-called legal pathways.
08:51So we strongly believe that we should combat illegal migration,
08:54because we think that member states should decide under international law
08:59who is going to cross their borders and not smuggling groups and traffickers.
09:04And yet there are stories of successful integration.
09:09Victim of torture in her native Cameroon,
09:13Justine received the refugee status in 2022.
09:17She manages this local tailor shop about to retire.
09:22She also plans to turn it into a community center for women victims of torture.
09:29My dream is not just making a living,
09:31it's to empower ladies, impact their life.
09:37I would be happy to see someone in the future saying that
09:41I became a fashion designer because of this space.
09:45That would be my happiness.