KISA's press release on police operation against migrants

INTEGRATION MEASURES – NOT OPERATIONS BROOM –
MIGRANTS ARE NOT TRASH

Recently we are once again witness to the victimisation of migrants who live in the old part of Nicosia by
the police and, unfortunately, by central and local government officials. The problems arising as a result
of the religious practices of some migrant groups that led to the Omeriye mosque events, a large part of
the responsibility for which belongs to the state and the municipality of Nicosia, have been the starting
point for a series of unacceptable statements and impression moves by the police for so‐called more and
better policing of the old town in order to combat “crime” and “illegal” migration, terminating in today’s
operation “broom”.

Migrants are presented as the problematic element in the old town, which “terrorises” residents and
passers‐by and there should therefore be measures to address it, the most “imaginative” of which is
apparently the police operation “broom”. An operation through which people are indiscriminately
arrested and taken to police stations in handcuffs on the basis of the colour of their skin. An operation
which indiscriminately violates house doors and invades bedrooms while people are asleep in order
supposedly to combat “crime”.

We do not know if the above practices restore a sense of “security” among racists; but what we can say
with certainty is that they shatter the dignity of migrants and every trace of security and trust they may
have had in the state and the authorities.

We call on the Mayor of Nicosia, the Minister of Interior, the Minister of Justice and Public Order and the
Chief of Police to explain to us –
- How will the police operations, which are targeted indiscriminately on migrants, with or without
papers, solve the housing problem of migrants, who indeed live in appalling conditions in the old
part of Nicosia subject to economic exploitation?
- How will the criminalisation of renting to migrants without papers, as provided for in the recent
bill of law submitted to the House of Representatives by the Ministry of Interior, solve the
already very serious problem of shelter for migrants, which is a basic social right of every person
recognised by international law, without discrimination on any ground, including any legal
status? Would not such a policy lead to further ghettoisation of migrants as well as to their
increased exploitation because landlords, under the threat of criminal sanctions, would raise
rents even more?
- How will the persecution, criminalisation and further ghettoisation of migrants living in old
Nicosia and elsewhere will lift the huge responsibility off the Nicosia municipality and the
Ministry of Interior in relation to lack of policies and measures for the integration of migrants,
which have led among other things to the unacceptable living conditions of migrants in old
Nicosia and for which the migrants themselves are again punished?
KISA, in the framework of a meeting held recently with all migrant communities for the organisation
of the annual multicultural Rainbow Festival, which purports to show the cultural wealth of the
migrant communities in Cyprus, has, jointly with the migrant communities decided to call on:

- The Minister of Interior to withdraw the proposed bill for the criminalisation of renting
housing to migrants without papers, in respect of the United Nations Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which secures the right to housing to all without
discrimination.
- The Minister of Interior to proceed to a substantial integration policy of migrants and to
adopt, among others, a housing policy for migrants, who constitute an especially vulnerable
group.
- The Mayor of Nicosia to end her equivocal statements, which instigate racism and
xenophobia and, instead of asking strengthening of the policing of the old Nicosia, which
leads to operations “broom”, to adopt substantial integration measures at local level, to
exercise her competencies as the city planning authority vis‐à‐vis property owners who
exploit migrants, on the basis of the protection of the rights of migrants and not their
persecution and criminalisation.
- The Union of Cyprus Municipalities to take up active action for the formulation of policy
and measures to solve the housing problem of migrants and refugees.

KISA Steering Committee, 25.09.2009

RAC I SM: S POT AND S TOP I T
Τ.Θ. 22113, 1517 Λευκωσία – Τηλ.: 22.878181 – Φαξ: 22.773039 – E-mail: kisa@cytanet.com.cy