18 December 2014
Request of stateless Kurds from Syria (Ajanib) for their applications for international protection to be examined immediately and be granted recognised refugee status
We are a group of stateless Kurds from Syria (Ajanib) who for almost two months now live in tents outside the Ministry of Interior in order to protest for the fact that we have been waiting for 7 years for the examination of our applications for international protection. We were forced to leave Syria even before the war, because of serious discrimination and persecution we are facing there – both because of our stance against the Syrian regime in regards to the rights of the Kurdish people, and also as people who are deprived of even the basic right of nationality by the Syrian regime – and the consequences this entails for our rights and our lives. The possibility of our return has been eliminated altogether and our need for protection has become imperative following the war in Syria.
Our friends and relatives, who fled with us under the same conditions and sought protection in other EU countries, have already been granted the status of recognised refugees. They have been allocated housing and have access to intensive programmes to learn the language of the host country, as well as to training courses. Moreover, most of them have already acquired the nationality of the country that has granted them the refugee status. They have rebuilt their lives and they now have positive prospects for their future and that of their families.
Unfortunately, the conditions for us, who have sought protection in Cyprus, are very different. Our applications remain unexamined for many years. Those persons from Syria, who have applied for asylum in Cyprus and their applications, have been examined, after several years, instead of being recognised as refugees, as they should and as it is the case in all other countries, they have been granted subsidiary protection. This status does not allow them to exercise their right to family reunification. Also, it does not give them the possibility to acquire valid travelling documents (equivalent to those granted to people, who have been recognised as refugees) so as to be able to travel, despite the imperative need for travelling, since, as stateless persons, they do not have any travelling documents. Finally, the economic crisis and the deplorable state of the labour market on one hand and the hostility institutional discrimination and racism we experience every day and the lack of effective integration programmes on the other, have led us to poverty and despair.
As we have been informed by the media, during the discussion held on 20.11.2014 in Parliament regarding the issue of the Syrian refugees, who have been rescued and are now residing in Kokkinotrimithia, the Minister of Interior stated that in the event that these people apply for protection, the Ministry will give priority to their applications, understanding their request to be granted the status of recognised refugee instead of subsidiary protection.
Unfortunately, we regret to note that in practice these promises are not reflected in the recent decisions in relation to our asylum applications. On the contrary, the status of the recognised refugee has not been granted to any of the persons whose applications have been examined since then. Every single person, whose application was examined, has been granted subsidiary protection.
Subsidiary protection for us, as stateless persons, is completely unacceptable, as:
- It does not guarantee the rights emanating from the UN Convention on stateless persons.
- It contradicts the recommendation of the UN High Commission for Refugees.
- It does not allow reunification with our families, or even the ability to travel, as it does not grant a valid travel document, either for family or for business purposes.
- It is in contrast to the practice followed by other EU member states that grant to all stateless persons of Kurdish origin from Syria the recognised refugee status.
- It actually forces us to abandon Cyprus illegally to move to another EU European country and apply for protection there.
We believe that the immediate examination of our applications and our recognition as refugees would also be a serious indication regarding the consistency of the Ministry of Interior towards the obligations stemming from International and European legislation law and would also send an encouraging message to the rescued refugees from Syria who, due to their concerns about the outcome of their applications, have not as yet submitted asylum applications.
Finally, we would like to emphasise that we are determined to continue our protest outside the Ministry of Interior until our applications are examined and we are recognised as refugees.
The refugees in protest outside the Ministry of Interior
