Detainees refuse to come down from Menoyia roof (updated)

By Constantinos Psillides
The six immigrants that climbed on the roof of the Menoyia Detention Centre are still there and refusing to cooperate with authorities, according to a police report.
The immigrants, five Iranians and an Afghan, climbed on the roof at around 9:30am on Monday and refuse to come down unless they are set free, read the report.
Sources told the Cyprus Mail that members of the Emergency Response Unit (EMAK) tried to bargain with the immigrants overnight but failed. The negotiators were said to have used a crane to try and get the immigrants down but they tied ropes on their necks and threatened to jump if anyone got close.
The immigrants are protesting their prolonged detention at Menoyia. According to the police information office, the immigrants have been in Menoyia for four to 18 months.
Nikoleta Tyrimou, deputy police spokesperson said that all six immigrants were set for deportation.
“All of them have been in jail for various offences. When an immigrant is imprisoned, upon release they are set for deportation. In that effect, they are taken to Menoyia until their case can be processed. These individuals have shredded their travel documents and refuse to cooperate with authorities. They are even refusing to be taken to their countries’ embassy for identification,” said Tyrimou.
Tyrimou also said that the immigrants have supplies of food and water to withstand the heat. The temperature in Menoyia was expected to reach 38-39 degrees on Tuesday, according to the weather service.
The police spokesperson added that these are the same detainees who attempted the same protest on August 4. The detainees climbed down the same day, after they were promised that their cases would be examined by Immigration Services.
It is not the first time detainees at Menoyia have protested against their detention. In June, a man tried to slit his wrists, while in January another tried to hang himself in his cell.
Immigrant support group KISA on Tuesday called on all competent authorities to deal with the issue of immigration and illegal detention.

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.