Priority is given to verifying the age of those who declare themselves minors in Pournara, says the Deputy Minister of Welfare While the issue is before the Human Rights Committee in the Parliament, the Commissioner for Child Protection denounces cycles of exploitation "with extensions to the Police with the knowledge of the Ministry of Interior" The numbers are no longer manageable, says the Deputy Minister of Welfare. /quote]
The serious gap in the verification of the age of persons claiming to be minors and the increase in arrivals at the Pournara Centre have emerged as key problems in the treatment of minors seeking asylum from the Republic of Cyprus, according to points raised on Monday before the Human Rights Committee in Parliament.
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The Parliamentary Committee held an extraordinary meeting on the issue, with the participation of the Deputy Minister of Social Welfare, Anastasia Anthousi, the Commissioner for the Protection of Children's Rights, Desdo Michailidou Livaniou, the Director General of the Ministry of Interior, as well as representatives of the Asylum Service of the Ministry of Interior and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The Deputy Minister of Welfare, highlighted as a priority to find the "right procedures for the complexity of age assessment" of persons seeking asylum as minors, and spoke of delays and difficulties in this direction. He said that of the 64 people who required medical examinations for age verification (in addition to psychosocial interviews) last year, 60 per cent were found to be adults.
Responding to recommendations from the Commissioner for Children's Rights that the role of the Secretary of State as guardian of children should not be to question age, but to regain their trust, he said that "we also have a responsibility to those individuals who are truly minors" and added that "there is a much greater risk of minors mixing with adults who claim to be minors". He also argued that "if we facilitate the process and label them all as minors, the flows will increase in the coming weeks."
The intention of the Ministry of State, he said, is to find a legal avenue so that the state can proceed with an examination of an adult's asylum application if there are reasonable suspicions that he or she is not a minor and refuses to undergo the relevant medical examination, according to the Refugee Law. "We are in consultation with the Legal Service to see how this can be done," Anthousi said, adding that the state has also asked the European Commission, as well as the High Commissioner, to send best practices and contribute to the process.
She stressed, however, "ut the numbers are no longer manageable", as the existing structures designed are for about 160-170 minors, but this is only the number of new arrivals from January to February 2022. During the discussion at the meeting, he said the number of minors in Purnara skyrocketed after September 2021, rising from 73 to 268 in December that year, while a total of 769 minors are currently in the Republic of Cyprus in various structures. She said that in order to be able to activate a plan for the education and integration of the minors into the local community, the problem of their accommodation must first be solved.
The Deputy Minister added that the immediate goal, as was evident in the morning meeting under the President, is to find a way to completely discharge Pournara, as well as to speed up the procedures for examining asylum applications. "The facility at the Lakes will also be evaluated to determine whether people can be accommodated there. We have clear instructions from the President to provide immediate solutions," he concluded.
Director General of the Ministry of Interior, Costas Constantinou, told the committee meeting that the number of minors multiplied as a consequence of the general multiplication of arrivals at the Pournara centre, which increased from 7,000 in 2020 to 13,000 in 2021. He said about 11,000 of last year's arrivals are estimated to come from people arriving with travel documents and student visas via Istanbul to the illegal airport in Tympu and from there crossing the Green Line to the free areas. "When someone crosses the Green Line, a trafficker guides him on the other side, while on this side another trafficker gives him the facility on how to move, arriving at night in a foreign place," he explained, adding that these individuals, "by extension, are of an age to attend college."
Characteristically, he said that in the months of January to February 2021, there were 49 minors who arrived in Cyprus, while in the corresponding period of 2022, there were 156. To the increase in population and delays due to quarantine procedures during the pandemic, he attributed the long delays in processing applications, which he said was the main reason for the overcrowding in Pournara and the problems created. Regarding feeding, he said that minors receive the same food as all other persons accommodated at the centre, on the recommendation of the AIC, with regard to the content and quantity of portions.
He added that a few days ago all the necessary procedures for 356 minors were completed, but the Ministry of State was facing difficulties in finding a place to receive them, as a result of which some remained in Purnara. For this purpose, 72 available places in a hotel in Larnaca, where close contacts of people with COVID-19 are hosted, and another 20 places in structures under the responsibility of the Ministry of Interior were used.
Another 155 people, for whom the vulnerability and age determination examination is pending, it was decided at a meeting of the Ministry of Interior on Sunday to transfer them to an interim structure until the necessary procedures are completed. Finally, he said that the Ministry is also working on a medium-term solution, with the preparation of a land-use plan for the conversion of the facilities in Pournara to operate with 2022 data. He said that a cost of 20 million is estimated for this project and added that European officials have also indicated that they will look at it positively.
Child Protection Commissioner denounces cycles of exploitation
The Child Protection Commissioner said that "the practice of the grey zone" for the temporary stay of minors in Pournara, given the overcrowding of the centre, is not a solution that can be applied anymore and it is considered necessary to create a centre for minors. Reiterating the serious problems caused by the sewage disposal, inadequate feeding, inadequate tents for accommodation, he stressed that it is imperative to speed up the procedures especially for minors, while he said that there is a need to re-evaluate the procedure for processing applications and making decisions on the placement of minors in appropriate structures, while he added that perhaps there should be a training of judges in matters of unaccompanied minors.
"We must do everything possible to honour our commitments as a welfare and legal state" he stressed, saying that "the guardian of minors (Ministry of Welfare) cannot question the age of those declared as unaccompanied minors", describing this attitude as a 'conflict of interest', although he did not rule out the possibility that those who declare themselves as minors might not actually be minors. She also referred to the gaps identified in the education of migrant minors and said that, despite the letters she has sent to the competent ministry, no steps have been taken to improve the situation, as children are still placed in classes according to their age, without any assessment of their abilities or preparation.
However, during the meeting, her reference to circuits linked to migrant flows and linked to economic interests caused a sensation.[/B]
She said that these circuits have extensions also within the police" and "are also known to the Ministry of Interior", while, she said, even the lawyers representing such circuits are known.
In statements after the meeting, President of the Committee and AKEL MP, Irini Charalambidou, said the Committee members' concerns were due to a visit they made to the site in December 2021, where they found that the children were living in deplorable conditions, sleeping on the floor on blankets in cramped rooms. She stressed that the problem with sewage is very serious, which affects the guests at the centre, as well as the residents of the area near it.
"A decision should be taken to create a shelter for minors", Ms. Charalambidou stressed, explaining that the fact that there is access from the adults' rooms to those of minors raises concerns about the possibility of abuse. "A state must act proactively to protect children," she said. He also made special reference to the need to integrate children into society, highlighting the role of the Ministry of Education in this regard, and said there was a need to evaluate the programmes in place. "We need to see how the issue of verifying the age of minors will be settled," she added, expressing concern about the Commissioner's reference to a conflict of interest regarding the role of the Deputy Ministry of Welfare.
DISY MP, Rita Theodorou Superman, focused on the issue of age assessment. In a statement after the meeting, she said that "the psychosocial interview relegates any medical assessment procedure as the last tool only in case of persistent doubts about age". She clarified that "age assessment is requested only if absolutely necessary and not systematically, respecting the minor's right to maintain his or her identity and to be protected from any negative psychological and emotional outcome in case of doubts". He pointed out, however, that in Cyprus, as in many countries, it is found that a large percentage of those who declare themselves minors are adults who seek more lenient treatment when they commit crimes (since they know in advance that the social systems will not offer them what they seek), while also ensuring safe residence until the age of 18. She noted that arrivals of alleged minors have increased following the high number of rejections of asylum applications.
"The doubts that are used in favour of those who claim to be children and there is no evidence to the contrary, we have to reduce and eliminate them in every possible way or else we are clearly complicit in what is happening," the MEP said. "We should be particularly concerned about the rapid increase in arrivals from African countries, particularly through the occupied territories, as well as the rapid increase in alleged minors from the same countries," she said, stressing that the Social Welfare Service should proceed with age testing. He added that no long-term monitoring of the cases of unaccompanied minors is needed, up to their integration, possible disappearances, the increase in crime and their education.
DIKO MP, Pavlos Mylonas, in a statement after the meeting said that "the increase in the number of so-called children arriving on the island is shocking" and explained that he was referring to "so-called children", because according to information from the Commissioner for the Protection of Children's Rights, the Deputy Minister, and the Director General of the Ministry of Interior, those who arrive and declare themselves to be minors, in large part refuse medical checks to verify their age. She also spoke of the concerns of the Committee Chairperson, Irene Charalambidou, about the possibility of adults sexually abusing minors staying in the same space. "The mere possibility of sexual abuse of children should be a reason not to sleep at night," she said, adding that a solution must be found, as at the moment medical examination for age verification is not allowed without their consent.
She also highlighted the right to education of these children as particularly important. He stressed that "children arrive and without any preparation we throw them into the classrooms, because despite the millions spent by the EU on states and NGOs, we have not built schools to integrate these children by teaching them communication." He explained that their inability to cope multiplies the problems as they are driven to the margins and into delinquent behaviour. He also referred to "modern-day slave traders with Greek Cypriot collaborators" who pave the way for migrants to be brought to the free areas via the Green Line, mainly from sub-Saharan African countries, on student visas via Istanbul and the occupied territories.
The MP of the Ecologists' Movement, Alexandra Attalidou, said in statements after the meeting that the system of managing asylum seekers has serious weaknesses and inadequacies and that "the problem will be solved when we seriously address it, beyond political posturing". Regarding children, he described the treatment they receive as unacceptable and stressed that it does not indicate the rule of law. "Children cannot be detained," he said, arguing that there should be a strategy and a coordination centre to monitor a child's roadmap from the moment he or she enters Cyprus until adulthood. "An asylum strategy without an integration strategy is just management," he said, concluding that "this state does nothing for integration, but instead creates phobias within the population, which is unacceptable for officials in particular."
Source: ΚΥΠΕ
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