MIGRATION chief Kyriacos Triantafyllides yesterday insisted his department was free from racism, despite claims from deputies that Eastern European women faced discrimination when they married Cypriots.
Triantafyllides told the Cyprus Mail that criteria used to root out marriages of convenience were days away from becoming law for the first time.
“Until now, the criteria have been used unofficially as a guide, but it’s part of the EU harmonisation legislation. The House will make a decision in a closed session, perhaps as early as next week,” said Triantafyllides.
The proposals list a number of danger signs for immigration officials to look out for.
Couples who can’t communicate in a common language, who don’t sleep together, who don’t share the same house and who didn’t know each other before the wedding could face a court case.
On Wednesday, Nicos Katsourides, the chairman of the House Interior Committee, said the government was guilty of racism against Eastern European women who married Cypriots, automatically assuming they were entering marriages of convenience.
“Tell me one instance of Western European women being deported on charges of fixed marriages?” he asked an immigration representative at Wednesday’s meeting.
Doros Polycarpou, chairman of the Support Group for Foreign Workers, yesterday told the Cyprus Mail that women from Eastern Europe were discriminated against, but said the fault did not lie with Immigration.
“Yes, there is discrimination, and it started during the times of the Soviet Bloc. Cypriots went there on cheap holidays, they saw what it was like and they think that everything coming from there is cheap,” he told the Cyprus Mail.
Triantafyllides said he was unable to comment on any individual opinion, but said: “on our part, we do not discriminate against anyone.”
“I don’t believe they do anything on purpose. There are people who try to bring girls over for their nightclubs, and Immigration has to find out if these women are coming for legitimate reasons,” Polycarpou said.
One man, married to an ex-cabaret girl, said his wife had never suffered any discrimination because she was from Eastern Europe, nor had the couple been harassed by the Department of Immigration since they had married.
But before the wedding, officials came to the house to interview his wife, in his absence, insisting it was necessary to check their bedroom.
His wife threw them out and while her husband complained to the ministry, he appreciated that their intentions were genuine, given that marriages of convenience did take place.
But no one has any idea of actual statistics. Press reports claim that 1,000 artistes married Cypriots in the last three years, making the Interior Ministry suspicious that a large number were fixed marriages.
A spokesman for the Russian Embassy said 600 to 700 Russians were living in Cyprus on two to five year work visas. For the most part, he said, they returned home once their visas had expired. He estimated that no more than 300 Russian nationals were married to Cypriots.
The Bulgarian and Romanian embassies were unable to give similar statistics yesterday.
“I know that some girls try to get married to stay here and I know of a few cases that went to court,” said Polycarpou. He was also unable to give any figures.
It takes three years for spouses of Cypriots to qualify for a passport, after marriage.
