CLASHES between Palestinians and the police broke out in Larnaca again yesterday after the government attempted to move 70 Palestinians to new housing, resulting in three arrests and two injuries.
Three Palestinians were arrested for assaulting officers who tried to calm tempers outside a Larnaca hotel when one of the Palestinians had an argument with his wife about moving into a government-appointed reception centre.
Scuffles broke out, resulting in two police officers being taken to hospital with minor injuries. One of the arrested is also being investigated for attempting to grab a policeman’s service revolver during the fracas.
The disturbance comes just weeks after a policeman was beaten up by Palestinians at the Larnaca welfare office and Greek Cypriot school children fought with Palestinian children at a Larnaca high school last month.
The latest incident led a number of local residents to call on the government to relocate the reception centre to Nicosia.
Police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said yesterday’s trouble started during the transfer of 70 Palestinians to a hotel, being used by the government as a reception centre, in the Kalifatsia area of Larnaca.
The scheduled transport of Palestinian families to the hotel was part of the government’s latest policy to provide housing and food to asylum seekers or refugees under subsidiary protection in an effort to reduce the size of benefits currently afforded them.
It was not yet clear whether those involved in the disturbances were asylum seekers or refugees. Police sources yesterday gave conflicting accounts as to their status with Katsounotos quoted saying they were asylum seekers while another police source described them as refugees under subsidiary protection.
The mass transportation to the reception centre began yesterday morning.
“All was going smoothly and the vast majority of foreigners, 44 in total, had gone to the hotel. At one point shortly after 2.30pm, a car with a driver and co-driver arrived at breakneck speed outside the hotel. The driver was driving negligently and almost hit a Palestinian at the scene,” said Katsounotos.
According to the spokesman, the 51-year-old driver got out of the car and began swearing loudly. A domestic dispute then followed as he attempted to grab his wife, also Palestinian, who had gone to the hotel with the intention of staying there.
“It appears the husband reacted because he disagreed with his wife’s decision,” said Katsounotos.
When police tried to calm the husband down, the 51-year-old allegedly attacked an officer on duty, and then a second officer who tried to stop the first attack.
Katsounotos said: “From the attack, members of the police force suffered minor injuries on various parts of their bodies, were given first aid treatment and released (from hospital).”
Meanwhile, a young pregnant Palestinian woman suffered shock during the fracas and had to be taken to hospital by ambulance.
“The driver of the car and a 25-year-old asylum seeker, who participated in the incident, were arrested and taken to Larnaca police station. A 15-year-old girl, the 51-year-old’s daughter, also took part in the incident but police did not consider it appropriate to arrest her due to her young age,” said the spokesman.
A young teenage girl could be seen on footage of the incident shown on TV last night climbing on to the bonnet of a police car during the incident.
Later in the afternoon, a third Palestinian, believed to be a 28-year-old refugee under subsidiary protection, was also arrested.
Katsounotos said he is being investigated in connection with charges of assaulting a uniformed officer on duty and causing actual bodily harm, obstructing an officer from exercising his duties, as well as attempting to steal an officer’s service gun.
The 28-year-old was allegedly identified by one of the two injured officers from a crowd of around 35 Palestinians who went and stood outside Larnaca police station in protest against the arrest of the first two Palestinians. Police are also looking into reckless and dangerous driving charges for the 51-year-old husband, after he allegedly put the lives of his compatriots who were standing outside the hotel in danger.
The two injured police officers have received four days leave, said the spokesman.
According to local residents interviewed by state broadcaster CyBC yesterday, those involved in the melee also hit and kicked neighbours who had arrived on the scene to help police restore order.
Panayiotis Chrysanthou said he was at the scene when a police officer called for help from local residents but ended up getting kicked in the process.
Georgios Iordanou, another local resident, called on the government to transfer the Palestinian asylum seekers and refugees to Nicosia, “next to presidential palace, let them live next to the president and the politicians, let’s see if they like it”.
Kyriacos Kyriacou echoed similar sentiments, calling for their departure from Larnaca. “They are creating huge problems in Larnaca…We don’t want them here.”
The government has come under heavy fire from critics and supporters alike recently for its handling of migration issues. A number of deputies have made the issue of benefits given to asylum seekers and refugees a daily topic of debate within parliament. In Larnaca, where most Palestinians from Iraq with refugee status have ended up, local residents have held a number of marches recently against the migrant influx to the coastal town.
Interior Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis has repeatedly argued that the present government is the first to take a comprehensive approach to migration issues and set out a clear policy. Regarding the state benefits available, the government’s supporters have also pointed out that Cyprus is simply following international convention and national law on refugees and asylum seekers as ratified unanimously by parliament.
