‘You can’t tell people who are hungry or sick that you don’t know when they will receive their money’)
AROUND 250 immigrants and asylum seekers marched on the district welfare office in Kaimakli yesterday morning after being told they would not receive their monthly benefits until next week.
Police were called to the scene when one man, who has been granted asylum status, tried to break into the building by smashing a glass door. He had been without his medicine for ten days and needed his monthly cheque to fill his prescription. During the short fracas he fainted and had to be taken to hospital by ambulance.
The trouble began when the group went to pick up their cheques in the morning from the St Joseph’s centre. The cheques are sent there in bulk and handed out by three welfare officers on the last Friday of every month.
According to KISA’s Doros Polycarpou, upon arrival the immigrants were told the cheques would no longer be handed out at the centre and in future they would have to visit the welfare office.
“There had been an evaluation and welfare decided not to continue with this procedure but they didn’t inform anyone in advance,” said Polycarpou. “People panicked because they thought their benefits had been cut.”
The group then decided to go to the Kaimakli office, which is situated in the co-op building to protest and to try and collect their cheques from there.
However they were told when they got there that one of the three welfare officials who hands out the cheques was on sick leave and that the other two had refused to carry out the task, meaning they would be getting no money.
“Instead of trying to inform these people, the supervisor refused to tell them when they would be getting the cheques,” said Polycarpou.
“She told them to go home because it was hot outside, as if these people have air conditioning in their homes.”
Polycarpou said the worst part was that the cheques were there at the office but the officials just refused to hand them out.
“They just don’t seem to think it’s necessary to inform these people about anything. You can’t tell people who are hungry or sick that you don’t know when they will receive their money.”
He said in addition to the man who could not obtain his medicine, there was a family there with a handicapped child who have been waiting nine months for a welfare payment.
“Everything just came together and it was a bit of an explosive situation,” he said.
However none of the protesters other than the man waiting for his medicine had caused any damage or been violent, Polycarpou said.
He said the police came but there was no real trouble. People only wanted answers and solutions, and not trouble.
Labour Minister Sotiroulla Charalambous was also there on a routine visit to the Kaimakli office.
‘She asked to be informed on what was going on. We told her and even she said they should have been informed of the change in the situation,” said Polycarpou.
“It’s understandable that there are difficulties because they are understaffed but why can’t they just communicate,” he added.
A UNHCR survey last year found that in some cases it takes more than three or four months for asylum seekers to receive their initial benefits.
When it came to subsequent payments, over 32 per cent said they had to visit the welfare office between three and five times before they got paid again, over 15 per cent had to visit between six and ten times, 8.5 per cent had to go between 11 and 20 times and ten per cent over 20 times.
“In a large majority of cases, delays or interruptions take place without any reason,” the UNHCR said.
The amount of payment also varied from one month to another with 72 per cent of asylum seekers saying what they received was not enough for basic needs.
