The strong parallels between the refugee drama unfolding on the Ukrainian-Polish border and the refugees of the displaced Cypriots from the Turkish invasion in 1974 were underlined by the President of the Parliament during her address to the meeting of nine women presidents of European parliaments in Poland.
As the Speaker of the Parliament told CNA, visiting the refugee reception areas and noting with the other Speakers the concerns about the risks of trafficking, exploitation, torture and sexual abuse of children and women, she acknowledged what parents, grandparents have recounted as experiences of the brutality of Attila's invasion of Cyprus.
Demetriou stressed the importance of initiatives such as that of the meeting of women presidents of European parliaments to adopt a common set of actions to support and provide practical relief to refugees. Speaking to CNA, she pointed out the need "to use such meetings to recall what has been done in Cyprus since the Turkish invasion in 1974, with the occupation of territories and the violation of human rights".
"We can understand more than anyone what it means to be a refugee, what it means to have people missing, to live through all this horror," said the President of the Parliament, who during her speech at the meeting of nine women presidents of parliaments (Czech Republic, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Belgium, Latvia, Lithuania, Spain, Latvia, Cyprus, Ukraine and the European Parliament) said that "compliance with international law cannot be done with discounts or double standards".
"The similarities between what Turkey did in Cyprus in 1974 and what Russia is doing now in Ukraine are obvious, although the international community maintains an outrageous double-standard attitude towards Russia on the one hand and Turkey on the other. Equally outrageous is the fact that Turkey, to its advantage, is not aligning itself with the sanctions that have been collectively imposed on Russia, thus weakening the effectiveness of the measures," Demetriou added during her speech.
The horrific experience of refugee and occupation that now counts 48 years in Cyprus, she said, is an additional reason to stand firmly on the principles of international law, alongside the people of Ukraine. The Speaker also noted that Cyprus' stance remains non-negotiable, that it currently hosts some 15,000 Ukrainian refugees, while at the same time it has to deal with a major challenge due to the disproportionately large number of asylum applications compared to the population of the country.
In her statements to CNA, shortly before her return to Cyprus, Demetriou said that women and children are always the biggest victims of war and refugees, explaining that discussions in Poland also focused on providing assistance to these groups and mitigating the risks of trafficking, exploitation or sexual abuse. During the meeting, she noted, she stressed the need for solidarity towards them, but also among European countries receiving refugees, with a coherent policy for granting asylum and settling them.
Proposals for cooperation at the level of parliaments and local authorities were also discussed, and the need to control all institutions and NGOs involved in providing assistance to refugees was highlighted, she added. He also said that the creation of a single European platform for assistance, especially for children, was discussed, so that services could be provided, even online, to people who do not have a good command of languages other than Ukrainian. This is an extension of the decisions taken by the EP plenary on April 7.
Some parliaments in Europe, Demetriou said, have also moved to adopt resolutions calling for genocide in Ukraine, but this has not yet been tabled in the House of Representatives and may be discussed in the near future.
Source: CNA
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