THE IMMIGRATION Service has denied claims by the Immigrant Support Action Group (ISAG) that the death of a 35-year-old Sri Lankan man was the result of racist and inhuman treatment by department officers.
Mahalil Silva arrived at Larnaca airport on July 6 from Dubai where he used to work.
According to police, “Silva, who had a return ticket and $1,400 in cash, claimed he had come to Cyprus for holiday”.
Immigration officials denied him entry because he could not tell them where he was going to stay, the police statement said.
“It is unusual to get tourists from Sri Lanka,” said immigration department chief Kypros Aristidou. “But this was not the reason he was denied entry.”
“The reason was that he could not tell us where he was going to stay, and who was expecting him; he said only that he had come as a tourist.”
A flight was found for July 8 for Silva to return home, but he said it was inconvenient for him to travel on that particular flight, police said. Another flight was found for July 13, and Silva agreed to leave.
He was staying in the departure lounge of Larnaca airport, in one of two purpose-built rooms.
The rooms hold 17 people, and are equipped with beds, showers and toilets. Silva was free to move around the area and make phone calls.
The rooms were inspected and approved by the European Union three months ago, Aristidou added.
On July 11 Silva suffered a stroke and was rushed to Larnaca hospital. He was later transferred to Nicosia hospital because of the severity of his condition.
On the same day Silva returned to Larnaca where Dr Panayiotis Dimitriou diagnosed a brain haemorrhage and decided to keep him in hospital for at least 10 days.
Silva died in hospital on July 17 at 10pm.
Pathologist Sofoclis Sofocleous, who carried out the autopsy, said the cause of death was internal brain bleeding. He could not say whether the bleeding was a result of the conditions in which Silva had been detained.
Doros Polycarpou of ISAG claims the man was complaining of ill health as soon as he arrived: “If he complained about his health, why wasn’t he taken to hospital?”
He also questioned the conditions under which Silva was held, and disputed Aristidou’s claims that the man was free to move around.
Polycarpou charged police with not reporting the incident as soon as it happened.
But a police spokesman said the man’s death had been reported on July 18.
Aristidou was clearly annoyed with what he termed unfounded claims by ISAG.
“We are not racists; it is wrong to accuse the department of racism,” he said. “A friend of the deceased told ISAG about the incident. They never asked us.”
“But without wanting to offend anyone, I think they take every opportunity to go public, create a mess and expose us worldwide,” added Aristidou.
“If they were really interested about human rights they should have contacted us, and not take information from other aliens who could possibly be wanted by police themselves.”
Deputy Attorney-general Petros Clerides has recommended that an independent investigator be appointed to look into the case.
