States receiving huge waves of refugees must be on constant alert to provide adequate support and solidarity to people seeking protection in them, says Commissioner for Administration Maria Stylianou Lottidi in a message on World Refugee Day, noting that in 2021 the number of refugees worldwide due to war, violence, persecution and human rights violations reached 89.3 million.
This number, it says, is 8% higher than the numbers recorded in 2020 and at least twice as high as in the previous decade, according to UNHCR data.
The Commissioner says that 20 June has been designated as World Refugee Day "to recall the uprooting of millions of people around the world who, due to war, conflict and persecution, have been forced to flee their native lands".
It adds that "the current challenges for modern societies regarding the adequate protection of the rights of refugees are magnified in the light of the continuing increase in the numbers of displaced persons, taking into account the war that has been taking place in Ukraine since last February".
This is why the Commissioner stresses that the states receiving the huge waves of refugees must "be on constant alert to provide adequate support and solidarity to the people seeking protection in them". It also refers to the risks that arise after the displacement of people, such as discrimination or marginalisation, as well as the exploitation of people placed in a state of vulnerability.
"Bodies such as the Institution of the Commissioner for Administration and Protection of Human Rights, mandated to be vigilant on issues of human rights violations and to intervene to ensure that they are respected, are often called upon to manage them," the message continues.
As part of this vigilance, it says, regular visits to the Reception and Accommodation Centres for asylum seekers are included in order to "identify, record and highlight issues relating to the logistical infrastructure of the Centres and the services provided to those staying in them".
It also notes that interventions have been made on issues relating to the framework for supporting and covering the material reception conditions of asylum seekers residing outside the Reception Centres, as well as on the right to family unity of beneficiaries of international protection, "given that family unity constitutes both a legal principle and a humanitarian reason, while at the same time, it is an essential framework for the protection and recovery of a relative normality in the lives of refugees in asylum seeking States".
In addition, it mentions as part of its actions for refugees the participation in awareness-raising and information campaigns on the rights of refugees and the monitoring of the implementation of the relevant law, in cooperation with non-governmental organisations.
In conclusion, he does not fail to mention the refugees of Cypriots who were displaced 48 years ago from their homes due to the Turkish invasion in 1974, referring to an uprooting that "continues to take root, leaving the land of our parents and grandparents thirsty, looking for the only water of return".
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