Citizens on Monday gathered outside KISA’s offices in Nicosia to condemn a bombing attack against the anti-racist organisation.
The incident which took place on January 5, left the property’s glass panels shattered and the organisation’s archives in ruins, prompting a call for a comprehensive police investigation.
The demonstration yesterday was organised by the Alliance Against the Far Right, Fascism, and Racism.
Former Minister and Member of the European Parliament for AKEL, Neoklis Sylikiotis, addressed the crowd, emphasising AKEL’s commitment as the largest political entity within the Alliance. He stated, “We strongly condemn this violent attack on KISA’s offices and stand in solidarity with the organisation.”
Orestis Matsas, a member of the coordinating committee of the Alliance, followed saying, “The fascist attack on KISA’s offices is the result of a systematic targeting by public figures, politicians, and mainstream media against migrants, refugees, and those advocating for their rights.” He urged the police to “thoroughly investigate this incident and find the culprits for exemplary punishment.”
Leandros Savvides, speaking on behalf of KISA, echoed the sentiment, stating, “We are willing to cooperate with all organisations to address migration, asylum, and human rights issues. The attack on our offices will not deter us from our commitment to promoting equality and justice.”
KISA’s offices have been sealed and are set to undergo repairs, as announced by the organisation.
In a statement KISA noted that “the state authorities are fully responsible, having left a historic human rights protection organisation at the mercy of criminal elements acting with racist and nationalist motives.”
The statement further called for a serious investigation into the incident and the identification of those responsible for the attack.
KISA president Doros Polykarpou told in-cyprus that he had been the recipient of numerous death threats for his work on immigration and anti-racism “from various far-right, nationalist and racist groups,” for which he filed complaints with the police.
The attack prompted a condemnation by Amnesty International which noted that racist violence is on the rise in Cyprus while raising alarms over the safety of “human rights defenders in the country.”
Reported racist violence in Cyprus in 2023
On September 1, 2023, migrants, tourists and members of the media were attacked by a mob of more than 200 demonstrators during an anti-migration march in Limassol.
On August 27, a group of far-right activists broke from an “anti-ghettoisation” protest in Chloraka and attacked migrants, while breaking the windows of shops and homes of Syrian residents with stones and injured people inside.
In June, police said that recorded incidents of bias-motivated violence have increased yearly, highlighting the negative consequences of the growing hostility towards refugees and migrants.
Also in 2023, a black boy was a victim of a bias-motivated attack by other local children in his school, while foreign delivery drivers have been subject to multiple attacks.
In May 2023, a Cypriot man was sentenced to eight months for beating a pregnant African woman to the ground in Larnaca. The incident was caught on tape, causing outrage on the island.
Several political figures and organisations on the island have called for a reconfiguration of the Republic’s integration policies, which as they argue leaves migrants and refugees in vulnerable circumstances.
Furthermore, a Council of Europe report in March highlighted that hate speech remains widespread in the country which has seen a spike in the arrival of migrants and people seeking asylum in recent years.
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