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Following today's reports by the Auditor General before the Parliamentary Committee on Refugees, during which the legislative amendments promoted by the Ministry of Interior to streamline the management of Turkish Cypriot properties were discussed, the Government's willingness to introduce a new system for the fair allocation of Turkish Cypriot properties is initially reiterated. The changes introduced by the new bill meet the long-standing demands of the refugee world and all stakeholders, including the Parliamentary Committee on Refugees and the Pancyprian Refugee Association. They are also recommendations that have been expressed from time to time by the Audit Office for the streamlining of the procedure for the disposal of Turkish Cypriot properties.
The reference by Mr. Michaelides - as reported in publications - that with the bill "the Custodian is essentially out of the game in the disposal of Turkish Cypriot houses", is in no way valid. The disposal of the properties will continue to be done by the Guardian, however, clear and meritocratic criteria for eligibility and prioritization of beneficiaries will be introduced and applied, in order to limit the discretion of the Guardian, which, in the absence of clear criteria and institutionalized transparent procedures, has until now caused phenomena of abuse and exploitation of the properties, to the detriment of the refugee world. In other words, a major problem has been solved, for which the Ministry of Interior has been criticised more than once, even by the Audit Office itself, with regard to the leeway provided by the Law for the selective preferential treatment of refugees.
With regard to the Auditor General's opposition to the right to sublet commercial premises, it is clear that the new framework effectively limits a phenomenon that has so far been repeatedly exploited by delimiting the cases in which it could be accepted, as was the constant request of refugees. In particular, subletting is foreseen only in very specific cases, where the original beneficiaries have been legally exploiting the property granted to them for a long period of time, but for various serious reasons (e.g. health reasons), they cannot continue their professional activity. It is underlined that in these exceptional cases, the subletting concerns the remaining period of the lease contract with a maximum duration of five years, in order to allow the lessee to partially amortize any investment costs he had for the premises.
Regarding the disagreement expressed by the Auditor General on the determination of the rent, it is clarified that, as a general rule, the rent is set at 75%, except in exceptional cases (e.g. where the premises are in a very poor state of repair and require the expenditure of large sums for repairs), in which case the Custodian is given the opportunity on an ad hoc basis to decide to reduce the rent by up to 50%.
Finally, as regards the important parameter of the hereditary nature of the licence to use Turkish Cypriot houses, it is stressed that this is introduced primarily to redress the injustice suffered by displaced persons who reside in Turkish Cypriot houses and cannot use them to meet the housing needs of their heirs. It is commonly accepted that under the current legislative framework, refugees who have been allocated Turkish Cypriot housing are at a disadvantage compared to, for example, refugees housed in government settlements who have title deeds and can transfer them to their heirs. In the event that these heirs have the financial means to meet their housing needs, they can sell or rent the housing they have acquired by inheritance to any citizen, refugee or non-refugee.
With the amendment, we upgrade the status of displaced persons residing in Turkish Cypriot houses and give them the right to inherit the right to lease the house to their children, who will be able to use it under certain conditions. It is made clear that inheritance concerns the licence to use the property and not the ownership of the property, which is protected by the Constitution. The regulation of this issue resolves another decades-old problem that created two types of refugees and caused inequality and feelings of injustice among displaced persons, since a significant proportion of refugees lived in Turkish Cypriot houses without any security, which also had a negative effect on the maintenance of these buildings.
In conclusion, the Ministry of Interior assures of its determination and will to proceed with the changes as they emerged from studies carried out, to ensure equality among displaced persons and to protect their rights through transparent procedures. Another important objective of the proposed changes is to rationalise the financial management of Turkish Cypriot properties and, by extension, the revenues of the Turkish Cypriot Property Fund, so that the appropriate rents, based on their value, are finally paid, which will then be channelled to other refugee programmes of the Republic. In this way, the support of a much larger part of the refugee population will be achieved and/or strengthened and not just a minority, as is currently the case. The Bill is before the relevant Parliamentary Committee, whose members have the power, in their wisdom, to amend specific provisions if and when they deem it appropriate.
(MKY)
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