What happened to common sense?

Sir,
Allow me some space to express my genuine regret with the way our Immigration authorities handled the case of the Ethiopian lady at Larnaca port. Deporting her back to Lebanon was unjustifiable; this course of action goes to confirm what I have been feeling all along, that our Immigration department is being manned by individuals lacking the most significant ingredient, common sense.
They need to recognise that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
Sending this woman back to a war zone for any reason under the prevailing circumstances is gratuitous. We have learned of people who have stayed illegally in the country for years, and subsequently managed to obtain citizenship status without consequences! This woman is harmless; we all know this, as does Mr Lazaros Savvides at the Interior Ministry. Why all this fuss then? Simply, the accursed Cypriot egotism is the reason.
Our government is well aware that funding is available through the International Organisation for Migration and of their readiness to assist to carry out evacuations and repatriations of any nationals of countries who don’t have the means to do so, this is indisputable. Are our esteemed officials therefore implying that the moneys received from the European Commission and the Americans for this arrangement don’t apply to Africans in general, or just to Ethiopians? Is the government sure that its action is not condemning this unfortunate being to death? It goes to show how deficient the Ministry is: had they done their job properly in the first place the Immigration department wouldn’t be under the microscope today.
Achilles George Epaminondas
Manchester, UK

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