The government cannot deport seekers of international protection without first ensuring that their individual cases are fairly evaluated, Cyprus Refugee Council coordinator Corina Drousiotou told in-cyprus on Wednesday.
Drousiotou was asked to comment on statements made earlier by Minister of Interior Constantinos Ioannou who said that orders have been issued to detain and deport 28 people who are believed to have been involved in an unrest in the Pournara Emergency Reception Centre on Monday.
The Cyprus Refugee Council coordinator noted that unless the Asylum Service examines each case individually, the government cannot deport any person.
“This is a violation of the principle of non-refoulement,” she stressed.
Under international human rights law, the principle of non-refoulement guarantees that no one should be returned to a country where they would face torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and other irreparable harm. This principle applies to all migrants at all times, irrespective of migration status.
If the government moves unilaterally to deport the people, Drousiotou noted that this can be challenged before national courts, in accordance with national and international law.
The unrest at Pournara started on Monday noon, during a football match between residents. According to Stefanos Spaneas, spokesperson for CODECA, the organisation which provides management services to the camp, two groups of people started fighting after the football they were playing with was punctured.
“As a result, they started throwing stones at each other and the situation was derailed. At some point, there was great tension, and mob mentality prevailed,” Spaneas said while noting that currently, Pournara is hosting 1095 people.
Police intervened using tear gas to restore order and arrested 33 people. According to philenews, 26 were Nigerian nationals and seven were Syrian nationals.
Following the incident, the Minister of Interior stated he has instructed an immediate evaluation of the asylum applications of all detainees, so that their applications are rejected even for those who are eligible to be granted asylum, due to their involvement in the clashes.
“There will be consequences for those who do not respect the hospitality offered by the Republic of Cyprus,” he said.
To this end, additional asylum application assessors have been deployed to Pournara, with instructions to complete the asylum evaluation by yesterday evening.
The minister’s statements were criticised by the Movement for Equality, Support, Anti-Racism (KISA), which told Dialogos that “it is not the responsibility of the Minister of Interior to investigate criminal offences, but of the Police and to bring any incidents to justice”.
KISA further noted that because the Minister announced that “the review will be merely a formality to give a negative decision”, this would be “a violation of refugee law because one of the basic principles of asylum law is a fair procedure for examining an asylum application”.
The Nigerian nationals face deportation, with warrants for detention and deportation against them allegedly already issued. The Syrian nationals, on the other hand, are expected to be taken to court, facing charges related to the clashes, according to philenews.
Those involved in the incident will be transferred out of Pournara and will likely be transferred to the Menoyia immigration detention centre, to initiate their deportation proceedings, philenews reported on Thursday.
According to Police Spokesperson Christos Andreou, the 33 individuals arrested face charges of rioting and brawling.
Eight individuals were injured during the altercation, and after being transported to the hospital for examination, they were later discharged.
