THE Sunday Mail asked the Head of the Welfare Department, Evanthia Papasavva, why it was so difficult to find housing for asylum seekers or refugees and why they often ended up in seedy hotels that double up as brothels.
“Because there are no houses. We give them the money and they can choose where to stay, but very often, there is nowhere to stay and they end up temporarily in homes for the elderly or hostels of ill repute.”
Papasavva maintained that the department was willing, on certain conditions when there were no other options, to pay for better hotels but that those hotels would refuse to allow immigrants in.
“There is a lack of houses. This is a big problem. But it is not our responsibility to find housing. We provide them with rent if they are eligible. Housing is the responsibility of the Interior Ministry.”
According to Papasavva, the Interior Ministry is currently building temporary housing in Kofinou that will fit one or two hundred people.
“This will help but it won’t solve the problem,” she says. “There is a serious lack of housing. But even when housing is available, there is bias. Landlords do not want to rent to foreigners. We cannot lease the property for them for legal reasons. We don’t know how long they will stay and as such cannot financially commit ourselves to a contract.”
Some landlords refuse to accept immigrants for gastronomic reasons. “Some complain that they stink the place up with garlic or curry while others have done it before and got stuck without rent.”
Regarding the houses of disrepute, Papasavva admitted, “occasionally this happens but it is only temporary. We advise them to go to better places but in emergency cases, they go to these hotels or homes for the elderly.”
All foreigners here legally, either working here or refugees or asylum seekers, are entitled to get public assistance, maintains Papasavva. According to the Head of the Welfare Department, asylum seekers are now getting priority at the Labour Department for jobs, whereas before labour would be brought in from abroad.
“But the biggest problem remains housing. The cheap hotels are full. The good ones don’t accept them and our biggest problem is in Nicosia and Limassol, where most asylum seekers go.”
The Welfare Department currently cares for 256 families. Although they make an effort to offer all the benefits, including counselling, Papasavva notes that the increased number of cases makes it hard for the department to keep up.
“We have had the same number of staff for a long time, many of them on a temporary basis. So, we try to send people out but it can get difficult when you need interpreters for most of them.”
