During a meeting on 24/06/2015, between the strikers and the Acting Director of the Civil Registry and Migration Department (CRMD), the hunger strikers were astonished to learn that their applications for citizenship have not been forwarded by the CRMD to the Interior Minister for a decision despite his explicit instructions that the applications be considered immediately. KISA Press Release.

On 22.05.2015, the stateless Kurds  have applied for citizenship following the recommendations of the General Director of the Ministry and the Minister of Interior.

In the afternoon, the Minister of Interior, visited the strikers and assured them that the Ministry will examine their citizenship applications during the coming week. After this development, the strikers decided to stop the thirst strike while they are determined to continue the hunger strike until there is a positive outcome to their demands.

οn 22.05.2015, a doctor of the Red Cross, visited and examined the strikers today. According to the medical diagnosis, the health status of the first striker is critical while the health status of the second has shown very serious complications. The doctor assessed that if they continue the hunger and thirst strike for one more day then the damage that will be caused to both refugees will be irreversible.

On 19.05.2015, the stateless Kurds from Syria entered the second day of a thirst strike and the 23rd day of a hunger strike. The condition of their health remains stable despite the obvious consequences of the strike on their health. In view of these developments, today, the General Director of the Interior Ministry visited the strikers and expressed the desire of the Ministry for not causing any further negative effects on the health of the strikers and assured that efforts for finding a solution to their problems are in progress. KISA Press Release

A solidarity event with the stateless Kurds from Syria was successfully held on  14/5/2014, outside the House of Representatives. The refugees are asking the authorities to grant them the recognized refugee status instead of the subsidiary protection status. During the event, a delegation of NGOs that support the struggle of the strikers, together with the strikers themselves, met the Director General of the Parliament and delivered a joint statement, whereby they call on the Parliament to support the struggle of the refugees.

NGOs dealing with issues of asylum, in a meeting that took place on 05.05.2015, decided to release a Joint Statement, in which they express solidarity with the Hunger Strikers and call everyone to participate in a demonstration at the parliament on Thursday, 14.05.2015.

Joint call  on demonstration by KISA and Future World Center  for solidarity with the struggling stateless refugees from Syria

On  07.05.2015, the stateless Kurds from Syria who have entered the 10th day of a hunger strike, in a meeting with the Head of the Office of the President of the Parliament, they informed him about their request for granting the recognized refugee status. At the same time, they briefed him about all the actions made in order their justified claim to be accepted by the competent authorities.The Head of the Office of the Parliament’s President assured that:

• The President of the Parliament will request a meeting with the President of the Republic to discuss the issue of the  stateless Kurds from Syria (Ajanibs).
• The President of the Parliament will arrange a meeting with the Minister of Interior to promote their demands.
• All political parties are expressing solidarity with their struggle.

In an open letter dated 04.05.2015, under the title “In Syria, we knew that we were stateless because we were living in a dictatorship. In Cyprus, a European democratic state, why should we continue to be stateless?”,   the hunger strikers thank the UNHCR for its constructive approach to their fight and inform UNHCR that they are determined to continue their strike “until justice is done.”

On the 1st of May 2015, a representative of the UNHCR visited the hunger strikers and delivered to them the  UNHCR’s answer to their letter. UNHCR expresses its support to their justified struggle, referring to some of the limitations of the subsidiary protection status and their effort to persuade the Cypriot authorities to grant them the recognised refugee status.

Ιn an open letter to the Minister of Interior sent on 27.04.2015, entitled “Refugees in the Mediterranean die not only at sea, but also on land, with the difference that the latter is a slow and silent death”, the two hunger strikers inform him of their decision to go on hunger strike and that, despite the fact that they are stateless and reside in the territory of the Republic for more than seven (7) years, the state refuses to grant them the recognized refugee status. KISA Press Release

Refugees, in a letter sent on the 21st of April 2015,  informed the UNHCR about the problems that they face due to the decision of the competent authorities to grant them the subsidiary protection status and for their intention to go on Hunger Strike in the case that the MoI does not  re- examine its original decision and to finally  grant them the recognized refugee status.

Τhe Ministry of Interior (MoI), in a statement to the press[i] seeks to justify its refusal to grant recognised refugee status, despite the fact that they meet all conditions required in the law, to the stateless Kurds from Syria (Ajanib), who are protesting in tents in front of the Ministry since last October, not only for the granting of this status but also for the long delay (over 7 years) for the non-examination of their applications. KISA Press Release

On  18 of December 2014, a solidarity demonstration took place with the stateless persons of Kurdish origin from Syria (Ajanib). The stateless Kurds are since almost two months now, living in tents in front of the Ministry of Interior, in protest for the fact that they are in attendance for over 7 years for the examination of their applications seeking international protection. KISA Press Release

The tents of the stateless Kurds from Syria, who are protesting outside the Ministry of Interior, have flooded – Urgent appeal for their support. KISA Press Release

KISA calls on the Ministry to intervene so that the Administration can immediately proceed with the examination of the applications and  the granting of recognized refugee status to the Kurd protesters from Syria. KISA Press Release

The stateless Kurds from Syria, which belong to the ethnic group of Ajanib [ii]and have been waiting for many years the examination of their applications for asylum, are asking to be granted refugee status or at least subsidiary protection. However, in case they are granted the subsidiary protection status, then they will ask for this to be accompanied by a written commitment for granting them the right of family reunification and the right of acquiring travel documents, similar to the ones of the recognized refugees, so that they can travel freely and seamlessly to other member states of the European Union, where members of their family live. KISA Press Release