A GROUP of eight asylum seekers yesterday threatened to throw themselves off a tower in the British base of Episkopi if the UK failed to grant them British passports by today.
The asylum seekers, seven Iraqis and one Iranian, yesterday morning scaled the disused Defence Fire Service training building to make their protest.
SBA authorities are refusing to meet their demands, claiming they are the responsibility of the Cypriot authorities.
“If they don’t do anything by tomorrow, we will take further action,” Nabil Naji, one of the eight protesters, told the Cyprus Mail from the building’s roof.
“One person from the group will jump and get killed. The SBA will be responsible for his death.”
The SBA said they would make no attempt to force the men down.
“They can come down in their own free time. It would be irresponsible and dangerous even to think about removing them,” said Captain Nick Ulvert of the SBA Police.
SBA authorities said the building had been uninhabited for some time and was not safe. The group has been on the roof since 7am yesterday with no food, water or proper clothing.
“If we gave them food or clothing we would have been prolonging the situation. They are putting themselves in danger, which is not our responsibility,” added Captain Ulvert.
The group arrived onto SBA territory from the occupied north between 2001 and 2003, but it has not been determined from where they came. They have been housed for seven years at Richmond Village at Dhekelia SBA.
The SBA said the protesters were all single men, although Naji claimed that four of the men were married with children, and that the weddings took place legally in Dhekelia.
As the men do not have work permits, they have been living on weekly allowances of £40 each, while staying at Dhekelia.
“It is like being in prison. This is our life,” said Naji.
But the bases insist the men are not their responsibility.
“Ultimately, they are the responsibility of the Republic of Cyprus. From the outset, the group was informed that they had to get asylum from Cyprus, but they said they do not trust the Republic,” explained Ulvert.
Naji, however, claims that the SBA initially promised they would grant them British passports, which is why none of the group have applied for asylum to the Republic of Cyprus.
“For eight years, the SBA has been lying to us. While we were staying in Dhekelia, a police chief from Episkopi came to see us five years ago. He said the SBA had accepted us, that we would get British citizenship and would be able to go and live in the UK. All the time they were lying,” Naji claimed.
The bases say a memorandum of understanding between the SBA and the Republic of Cyprus clearly states that asylum seekers are the Republic’s responsibility. Based on this agreement, the SBA have asked the group to leave Dhekelia by January 14.
According to the SBA, this agreement was not in place when the group arrived in Cyprus, which is why the SBA took them in at the beginning. Their cases have been investigated, but no basis was found for their claims.
“For humanitarian reasons, the SBA thoroughly investigated their claims. Considerable British taxpayer money has gone into investigating their case. A UK team came to Cyprus late last year, but their findings indicated there is no basis to their claims and that they have no rights under UK law,” said Ulvert.
This claim is challenged by the eight protesters, who point out that a group of Syrian families have recently been received in the SBA, where they are being housed. “Why did they accept the group of Syrian families and why did they keep us there for eight years? Why did they just decide to throw us out now as if we are animals?” added Naji.
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