MORE THAN a week after an exploded mine almost blew up a family of Iraqis in the buffer zone area, the authorities are no closer to establishing where the device went off and whether it was even a mine.
The worrying lack of information on the location of the explosive device raises questions as to the level of clarity regarding the placement of mines in Cyprus. It is also an ominous reminder of the danger thousands of people expose themselves to when crossing the buffer zone each year to reach the free areas.
The threat of death is now ever more real for migrants coming from war-torn or poverty-stricken countries, hoping to use Cyprus as an entry point to the EU.
After celebrating 60 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights last week, there will be little point, if fatalities occur, in the authorities asking whether the victims are legitimate asylum seekers or illegal migrants.
Late last Friday, the family of five, seeking safety and asylum in Cyprus, were almost killed when an explosive device went off as the small group attempted to cross from the occupied areas to the Larnaca district.
The husband, wife and their four-year-old child were injured, while the two other children escaped unharmed. The father sustained serious injuries to his body and right heel, and had to crawl on his elbows for another two hours in darkness. The mother suffered cuts and bruises to her legs while the four-year-old boy was injured lightly on the face.
In circumstances still under investigation, a smuggler reportedly accompanied them on foot from the north up until the point of the explosion after which he disappeared.
Two hours later, after crawling injured through the dark, the family were able to make contact with two others in the free areas, also believed to be human smugglers, who drove them to Larnaca hospital before fleeing.
The mother and son are set to be released from hospital soon to join the other two children who are being looked after, while the father has undergone three operations on his leg. It remains to be seen whether he will walk on it again.
“It’s a tragic case, and a big shock for the family. It begs the question, where was this mine?” asked one NGO official who visited the hospital.
According to migrant support group, KISA, the Iraqi family have a very strong case for asylum given the alleged dangers they face back home.
The NGO expressed its concern that the authorities had failed to make any inroads in the investigation, leaving many important questions unanswered. Was it a mine? Where was it and who put it there? And if it was a minefield, was the perimeter marked by signs and barbed wire?
“In this case, the Iraqi survived the Iran-Iraq war, two American invasions and occupation, and civil war in his country, to be blown up by a mine in Cyprus,” said KISA.
UNFICYP, the National Guard and Larnaca CID have been investigating for over a week now where exactly the explosion occurred and whether it was a mine or some other explosive device.
UNFICYP spokesman Jose Diaz told the Cyprus Mail that a UN investigation came up with no evidence that a bomb went off in the buffer zone.
“We haven’t found any detonation inside the buffer zone that could be linked to this incident,” he said.
Larnaca CID said they had yet to establish where the explosion occurred while a source within the National Guard (NG) said all NG minefields had been checked within the area in question and no detonations had been found.
The Turkish occupying forces have yet to respond to a request for information, leaving everyone in the dark as to where this explosion that nearly killed a family of five occurred.
Another source close to the investigation said: “It’s hard to pin it on anything. It could be a mine or unexploded ordinances, like old mortars or shells. This illustrates the lack of clarity in all of this.”
The official picture is this. All NG mines in the buffer zone have been cleared by a special UN demining team while mines placed in the buffer zone by Turkish forces have yet to be cleared.
According to a Defence Ministry source, one member of the UN demining force lost a hand a few days ago while clearing minefields in the Lefka area.
Meanwhile, the NG still has mines south of the buffer zone, as do Turkish forces in the buffer zone and north of it.
So, where was this mine? In an undeclared minefield? Or in an area supposedly cleared of mines?
Asking the patient won’t do much good, as he has little knowledge of the area and won’t remember much from his crawl through the dark.
The only lead appears to be the smugglers who, one assumes, unknowingly led the family into a near death trap.
“We have signs and barbed wire surrounding all minefields in the government-controlled areas. Our mines in the buffer zone have been cleared. It was probably a Turkish mine either in the occupied areas or the buffer zone,” said the Defence Ministry official.
“As for anti-personnel mines, we will gradually remove them all by 2013 in accordance with the Treaty of Ottawa,” he added.
The source noted that if the police fail to find the smugglers, the exact location of the explosive device might remain a mystery for ever.
“There is a chance we’ll never find out where the mine went off,” he said.
