[Cyprus Times] "Immediate solution" to the problems caused by applications for political asylum by seasonal workers, calls for the President of the Co

"Immediate solution" to problems due to applications for political asylum by seasonal workers, asks the President of the Committee on Agriculture calls for an immediate solution

For lack of coordination between competent services regarding the problems faced by farmers due to the fact that many seasonal workers come to Cyprus to work on farms, abandon their work and seek political asylum, said the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, Giannakis Gavriel.

In his statements after the session, Gavriel said that this is the third time that the problems faced by farmers-employers in finding workers for employment on farms have been discussed under his Presidency, without the four Ministries involved in the whole process having any suggestion as to how to solve the problem.

"The problem focuses on the fact that foreign workers, who come to Cyprus on contracts to work in agriculture, leave their jobs, and apply for asylum and work illegally," Gabriel said.

He gave the example of a farmer needing four seasonal workers to grub potatoes, three of whom leave their jobs, with the result that the harvest is left in the field, and the farmer is unable to bring in others until the cases of those who have left are dealt with.

"You can understand how dangerous and scary this aspect is for farmers," he said."

As a committee, he said, they have submitted four "clear recommendations, but it seems the four ministries are not coordinating and cannot find a solution.

These recommendations include speeding up the processing of applications for political asylum, increasing penalties for those who employ illegal workers, and increasing police checks. He said that while complaints are made to the Police "that there are illegal workers in certain places, however, they are either unable or unwilling to visit the specific places complained about in order to solve this problem."

Gabriel also said that there are so many ways, as long as there is a will.

"We have called on the executive to listen to what has been recommended by both the farmers' organisations and all the MPs of the Agriculture Committee to solve the problem immediately," he said.

ELAM MP, Linos Papagiannis, referred to a "huge problem" saying that they have heard "exactly the same things that we heard six months ago."

He said that various opinions have been heard but their position is that "finally there should be an understanding in the government and between the four ministries involved."

"The situation is getting worse and at the end of the day, the ordinary producer is paying for it," Papagiannis said, adding that there are many ways of dealing with the problem, but what they see is that excuses prevail.

He also said that there is no other state in Europe facing similar problems.

Source: CNA

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