THE effects of last Friday’s fracas between nationalist groups and festival goers at the antiracist Rainbow Festival were still being felt across Cyprus.
With one Turkish Cypriot singer stabbed and at least 12 others – foreigners and locals alike – injured, it was commonly agreed that even this violent outcome was nowhere as bad as it could have been.
Migrant support group KISA attempted to explain its reasons for holding the festival on the same day, time and place as an earlier planned march by three nationalist groups to protest illegal immigration, saying in a statement that the decision was made “collectively with all organisations for migrants and human rights”.
The aim, it added, “was exclusively to show that, with the exception of a small group of racists and nationalists, society respects diversity and the equality of all people”.
KISA was keen to stress that it wasn’t responsible for choosing the festival’s location within Larnaca itself and that the allocated area was used for all such events.
“The fact that the Festival was organised with the support of the European Commission in Cyprus and was hailed by the head of the Authority against Racism and Discrimination, the Larnaca Mayor and the head of the EC representation in Cyprus, reflects without a shadow of a doubt the goals of the aforementioned Festival,” said KISA.
The NGO added that all participating organisations and groups had agreed not to provoke the nationalists, but to determinedly protect the festival from “racist violent attacks”.
Apart from condemning the police for doing little to avert the fracas, KISA also blasted the presence of political personalities at the nationalist march – specifically DIKO deputy Zacharias Koulias and a Larnaca municipal councillor – “who seemed to have a leading and guiding role”.
“In view of all of the above, KISA asks for an independent investigation into the events, including the stance and actions of the police; the immediate release of the persons who are being unjustly held – especially the minors – and effective measures to combat the phenomena of racism and nationalism,” KISA concluded.
The head of the European Commission’s representation in Cyprus, Androulla Kaminara, was present at the festival. In fact, it was directly after her speech that all the violence broke out.
“Because the EU promotes multiculturalism and social inclusion in Europe and respect for the cultures, we were there in order to support these ideals,” said Kaminara.
“I don’t know what the plan was, but the two groups were at a very close distance from each other, separated by a group of policemen and both groups were in the streets; there was nothing stopping them from coming into contact.”
According to Kaminara, there were people sitting in the Phinikoudes cafés, outside on the pavements – including children.
“The two groups spilled over onto the pavement, bringing the two sides face to face with each other; that’s when people started fighting – in the middle were a number of families with young children, who looked absolutely petrified,” she explained. “There was one child who was so panic-stricken, he just froze on the spot, in the middle of everything and kept his head down; staring in shock. How people didn’t die is a miracle.”
Kaminara said there was such a short distance separating the two groups, fights could’ve broken out at any point; which they eventually did.
The Cyprus Mail yesterday attempted to contact DIKO MP Koulias to hear his side of the story, but he refused to talk to the paper.
Political parties – including DIKO President Marios Garoyian – all rushed to condemn the nationalists’ march, with all agreeing that it was racist and xenophobic.
Leading party AKEL’s spokesman, Stavros Evagorou, said such racist and xenophobic behaviour was new to Cypriot society and needed to be combated at the root. He also called on the police to act with more determination in such situations.
Evagorou said he was saddened “because certain politicians with their actions are encouraging the expression of racist and xenophobic views, indeed by participating in these events”.
Opposition DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades called for the government to implement a correct and complete migration policy. “While we allow organised groups to gather in specific areas, this creates a situation where a sense of insecurity or phobia is created, resulting in this racist atmosphere; so everyone needs to be extremely careful but also calm,” said Anastassiades.
The main issues
Legal and illegal migration
EU migration policy recognises that legal migrants in Europe are necessary for the economic development of Europe, due to its ageing population and low birth rate.
“Young migrant workers are necessary to maintain the levels of the workforce in Europe and in order to avoid the collapse of the pension scheme in Europe,” said European Commission’s representation in Cyprus, Androulla Kaminara. “If we don’t have enough active working population, paying taxes and working, prosperity in Europe cannot be maintained.”
According to Kaminara, without immigration, the working age population of Europe will be 110 million lower than today by 2060. “So you will have a lot more people living longer lives and being pensioners and a lot less of an active working population and that is the need that migrant workers fulfil.”
The EU policy with respect to illegal migration is that these people should be helped in a humane way to return to their countries of origin, she said.
‘There were around 150 people in the march, all thirsty for blood’
ONE of the seven suspects who were arrested during the fracas on Friday night yesterday told the Cyprus Mail that he was arrested when he attempted to take a chair off someone who was about to hurl it into the crowd.
“Someone went to throw a chair and I grabbed the chair leg and they hit me and threw me to the ground, and the police came over and arrested me,” said the 50-
year-old Greek Cypriot, who had been at the festival when the troubles started. “They arrested none of all these thugs who came down with weapons and knives.”
The man, who did not wished to be named, was kept in Larnaca’s holding cells for over 24 hours, where he said he – along with the other suspects – was mocked by the police and made to experience long hours of uncertainty over what would happen to him.
“For example, they told me half an hour before I was released that I was most likely going to be remanded for eight days,” he said.
“Not only did I not do anything, I was one of the people who tried to placate the situation,” he added.
He admitted the Rainbow Festival had been transferred to Larnaca for a reason. “It wasn’t by chance. They wanted to show that: ‘yes we want to do this, even there’, to show that these racist actions can’t take place.”
But he said this was no excuse for how the police had acted. “The police there did the exact opposite of what it should have. Instead of the protecting the festival goers – there were children there, the state was there in the form of the Ombudswoman and other organisations, there was representation from the EU – there were 17 unarmed policemen who refused to divert the march.”
He said the police had insisted on passing the march through the festival area, when just moving it a mere five metres further up would have averted the violent outcome.
The 50-year-old went on to claim that the actual violence started when a man went into the middle of the throng and threw a chair; before running and hiding behind the police.
“This is a personal witness account, hand on heart, I’m saying what I saw,” said the Cypriot. “There were around 150 people in the march, all thirsty for blood. There were around 17 policemen without guns.”
He said the local police supported the nationalist groups when the official state hadn’t. “How is it possible for local police to have more prestige than the state?”
But perhaps the worse thing of all, in the 50-year-old’s eyes, is the coverage the matter received by the media. “The most unbelievable of all is the stance of the media; there were TV stations there and they had a lot of footage on film, yet very little of the true extent of what happened was shown to the public,” he explained. “This is unacceptable. You can’t report falsely and encourage racism.”
