Unrest at migrant reception centre

Three foreign nationals were arrested on Wednesday morning at the Pournara reception centre in Kokkinotrimithia and police are investigating the case on charges of damaging property and common assault.

The three men aged 26, 28 and 30 clashed with police but no one was injured.

On Tuesday, the Cyprus Mail reported that a hunger strike had begun at the reception centre in protest over overcrowding and poor living conditions for migrants and asylum seekers.

A police official on Wednesday said that the two incidents are separate.

“Some people sat at the entrance of the food hall, preventing others from going inside on Tuesday,” a police official told the Cyprus Mail.

He explained that after discussions with the authorities, those who wished to eat as usual did so and those taking part in the protest did not.

“What happened this morning is not connected and only involved three people.”

The three men had an altercation with police and were arrested at 9:30 am.

 

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.