A SYRIAN mother and her two-month-old baby remain in Nicosia’s Central Prisons, awaiting the outcome of their asylum application.
Mitia Halef was jailed on October 19 for residing in Cyprus without following legal procedures in seeking asylum. She chose to take her infant with her too.
When applying for asylum, Halef’s husband Yaser Amin, reportedly out of ignorance, had thought it was not necessary to include the names of his wife and two sons, which resulted in his wife’s arrest and two-month prison sentence.
Judging that she was eligible for a pardon, the prison’s governor suggested to the Attorney-general that Halef’s sentence be re-evaluated and reduced.
In turn, the Attorney-general notified President of the Republic Tassos Papadopoulos, who concluded that, providing the constitution allows it and that Halef and her child return to their country when freed, her prison sentence should be reduced.
But by deciding to apply for asylum, Halef’s pardon was cancelled, leaving her to see through her entire two-month sentence while waiting for her application’s results.
“While steps are being taken for her asylum application, it was decided that she remains in custody while procedures are being followed,” a prison spokesman told the Cyprus Mail yesterday.
But the arrest could have been avoided in the first place, says head of anti-racism group KISA, Doros Polycarpou.
“The fact that Halef’s husband omitted to include her and her children’s names on his application for asylum does not justify her being jailed. They could have just informed them of the mistake, rather than arresting her and ultimately imprisoning her and her baby.”
The police may also be partially to blame, says Polycarpou, though the incident is still being investigated and therefore he couldn’t say for sure.
“The husband may have omitted to include his family members purely because he was misinformed or wasn’t told that he had to. And if he turned up with his entire family to apply for asylum and hadn’t added their names, then shouldn’t the police have noticed this and told him?
“In our opinion, it was wrong that they were prosecuted by the court. Things should have been explained to them.”
When Halef’s sentence ends, she will then be held in the Lakatamia Detention Centre until the results of her application come through.
“This can take anything up to seven or eight months. And on the basis of the politics that are being followed today, I wouldn’t be in the least bit surprised if she was detained for that long,” said Polycarpou.
Whether Halef decides to keep her child with her is unclear, but Polycarpou advised her to take into consideration the conditions of the Detention Centre.
“In my opinion, the Detention Centre is much worse than prison. There is nothing to occupy you with.”
All Halef and her child can do now is await the final decision on whether they will be granted asylum or not.
