THE PARENTS of the two Cameroonian girls who fell victim to a smuggling ring and were brought illegally to Cyprus last November took a step closer to being permanently reunited with their daughters yesterday, when the French Embassy in Nicosia started to consider their application for long-term visas to France.
Stepfather Rene Chesnel said: “Our reception at the embassy was very different to what we feared and expected; there was no sense of mistrust or suspicion. The Vice-consul put us at ease from the very beginning, which we really didn’t expect. Then again, he did mention that he had read the press reports about us, so he already had an idea about what we had been through.”
Within one hour, the two applications had been completed, including the girls having their fingerprints and photos taken digitally, and the parents were informed that the usual visa fees of some €200 had been waived.
Rene and Marie Chesnel, who arrived in Cyprus on Saturday morning on a three-day trip to see their daughters Babette, 17, and Murielle, 15, went to the French Embassy yesterday afternoon. This followed a morning press conference at the offices of KISA (Action for Equality, Support and Anti-Racism), and a visit to the Cyprus Institute of Neurology & Genetics to have DNA tests carried out in order to obtain unquestionable certification that Marie is indeed the girls’ mother.
KISA Director Doros Polycarpou told reporters that “while the Interior Ministry has shown a lot of understanding in the matter – and I believe it has made every effort to both help bring the parents in contact with their children and facilitate the required documentation to allow the girls to be reunited with their family – very serious questions are raised over our effectiveness as a country in combating the smuggling and trafficking of people.”
Rene and Marie Chesnel were full of praise for the KISA’s continuing support, and the sympathetic and helpful response they received yesterday at both the Neurology Institute and the French Embassy.
However, both parents were critical and angry at the treatment Marie received at the hands of Nicosia CID on Sunday, when they were called in to make statements.
Marie said: “They kept me there for six hours, and in all that time they didn’t even take me into account as a human being, never asking if I wanted something to drink or needed to take a break. They really treated me like a suspect.”
“What also bothered me was the fact that they asked me who Murielle’s father was, but did not mention Babette’s father at all. As a matter of fact, they have the same father, but Murielle happens to have a lighter complexion than me or Babette. I asked them more than once about this, but they did not explain why they asked the question.”
Rene said: “With me, things were kept pretty short. I’m white, they treated me normally, but my wife, who is black, was kept for six hours without even being given a glass of water.”
Rene and Marie have been told by the French Embassy that the final decision on whether they will issue the girls with visas will depend on two conditions. First of all, they need to verify that the girls are indeed Marie’s daughters, which will probably involve formal enquiries with the Cameroonian authorities, so a timely DNA test result may provide a quicker answer. Secondly, the Cypriot authorities need to normalise the girls’ current illegal status by issuing them with temporary visas.
Once the expected test result is received, the way should be open to a quick and happy resolution of the whole affair.
Babette told the Mail: “We’re happy, but only half-happy, because we would have liked to leave tomorrow (Tuesday) with our parents. Things are fine now, but we hope they will be even better soon. For now we have to stay – nothing has been decided.”
