Xenophobia alive and well

Having just read the article about the integration of foreign students (Our foreign students integrate just fine, Cyprus Mail December 10), I have a question for Mr. Iacovou: ‘Who are you trying to fool?’

My daughter was born in Larnaca, her father is a Greek Cypriot born and raised in England and I am English. She speaks fluent English and better Greek than her father but she is still considered by her fellow students as a foreigner. She is almost 10 years old and every day at school something happens that causes her to be branded an outsider.

I would suggest to Mr. Iacovou that he descends from his tower and spends some time in the real world to see what really goes on.

If my daughter has these kinds of problems then other ‘foreign’ students have no chance of being accepted. Xenophobia is alive and thriving in Cyprus!

Stephania Stavri, Nicosia

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.