THIRTY-seven-year-old Vera Yudina, who was arrested and deported with her three children in September after living in Cyprus for 13 years, said yesterday she would not give up her campaign to be allowed to return to the place they call home.
“As long as I hope, I’ll keep on fighting, and I’ll keep on fighting till the end, whatever it costs,” Yudina said.
Speaking from Moscow yesterday, Yudina said her lawyer, Christos Clerides, had been in contact and told her that her case and the handling of her family’s deportation was up for review.
According to Politis newspaper, Interior Ministry Permanent Secretary Lazaros Savvides sent a letter to Yudina through Clerides. In it, he said he had been instructed by Interior Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis to reply to a letter she’d addressed to the ministry regarding her family’s deportation.
The letter said the Russian family’s case was being re-examined and that the findings would be presented to the Interior Minister so he could reach a decision on how to proceed.
“I haven’t seen the letter yet, but I’m still hoping to come back. I’m not giving up that hope,” she said.
Yudina said she had three reasons for returning to Cyprus and that they were called Olga, 16, Anna, 11, and Ivan, 10.
“My husband and I are okay in Moscow but it’s really hard for the children. They feel so isolated here and want to go back to the only place they’ve known as home.
“Ideally we want to go back as a family, but even if only the children and I are allowed to go back, we’re willing to do that.”
She said her children had still not recovered from the experience of the deportation and that Anna was finding adjusting to life in Moscow particularly difficult.
“She’s very sensitive and has reacted to this very badly. She wakes up in the middle of the night with panic attacks, has developed a nervous twitch in her eye and a rash on her face. I’m very worried about her.”
Another concern was her son Ivan who was born with a failed kidney and due to the subzero temperatures was made to stay indoors. Last month, the 10-year-old developed a cold and had to have emergency surgery to limit damage to his healthy kidney.
Politis said that, in his letter, Savvides expressed his sadness at the youth’s ill health and wished the family better days.
The 37-year-old said if her efforts to return to Cyprus were unsuccessful she would go to the Russian press and expose the island’s treatment of Russian nationals.
“I’ve already spoken to journalists about this but won’t give them any details because I still want to see what happens. They really want the story but I don’t want to damage the reputation of the country I love. I’m still hoping that they will accept us back.”
Yudina currently has three court cases pending: one at the European Courts over her family’s deportation and her husband’s illegal eight-month detention, two regarding her application for citizenship with the Supreme Court, and three over what she said were “the baseless accusations about her person (prostitution, drugs, stolen gold)” by migration officers and the civil registry and migration department head Anny Shakalli.
The Russian has always maintained the family’s deportation was orchestrated as part of a policy to clear the island of third country nationals ahead of an EU directive that grants them greater rights.
According to the directive, third country nationals who have been living and working legally in an EU country for over five years can secure long term residency status.
The law should have been implemented in January but the government has received extensions till the end of the year.
