Citizen’s march against Larnaca violence

LARNACA Citizens Movement last night carried out a peaceful march through the town to protest last week’s attack by Palestinian refugees on the district welfare office, which resulted in a policeman being injured.

“We condemn the violence; we condemn everything that is happening, wherever it is coming from,” said Movement member Vasos Zanettos.

Referring to the violent clashes between local and foreign pupils at Vergina High School yesterday, Zanettos added: “Our children are at school to learn and be educated, not to exercise violence. But the Education Minister and all implicated state bodies should deal with the situation, as the matter is tragic.”

The protestors shouted chants, calling for all those responsible for last week’s attacks to be deported – Interior Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis has already announced that the adults involved, five in total, would be deported. The remaining six minors will be handled according to international child treaties.

Larnaca mayor Nicos Moiseos said the municipality supported any event by the town’s residents, as long as it was done in a peaceful way to project fair demands.

“But I mean peaceful events, which respect all the people of Larnaca, all ethnicities, but also the integrity of the local residents,” said Moiseos.

Migrant support group KISA yesterday blasted “the so-called ‘Larnaca Citizens Movement’” for its march, which the NGO said was racist and stigmatised people under subsidiary protection and asylum seekers as “illegal immigrants and pseudo-political refugees”.

It added: “How real and how genuine these organisations’ concerns are over migrants with no personal documents can be seen in the fact that they had no problem to use the services of migrants with no personal documents recently, when they needed leaflets distributed to Larnaca homes.”

 

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