Briton claims refugee husband was unfairly deported

THE parents of a woman whose husband was deported from Cyprus have vowed to take drastic action against the government.

On September 13, Lydia Dowdall, a Briton living in Paphos married Bangladeshi national Saif Islam, who had been on the island as “a political refugee for the last three years,” according to Lydia’s father, Clive.

He explained that, “on November 7, while in Nicosia attending to his immigration affairs, Saif was told to sign off as a refugee and he would be given a visa permitting him to live and work in Cyprus as he was now married to an EU citizen. He was given a letter to take to the immigration office in Paphos. Two hours after delivering the letter the next day, he was arrested for being an illegal immigrant and was told that it was against the law for an EU citizen to marry a refugee. He was handcuffed, put into a deplorable cell, which had no heating, and told he would not be having hot food for 15 days.

“He was advised that he would have a hearing with the Interior Ministry and that his case would be presented on November 14. Three hours later, an immigration officer telephoned Lydia, informing her that Saif would be deported on November 13.

“My wife and I, along with Lydia, visited the police station where Saif was being held but a so-called officer banged his fist on the desk, picked up a chair and chased Lydia out of his office into the car park. The police here operate and act as in a third world country and are not trained in proper police methods.

“There is no way to make an effective appeal as all government departments only pay lip service to the situation and show no interest or awareness in how this so-called EU country is behaving.”

Aristos Chartas, a spokesman at the Ombudswoman’s office, confirmed that a complaint has been received over the deportation of Saif Islam, “which is currently under investigation.”

Lydia’s mother, Hefter, yesterday told the Sunday Mail that, “the authorities in Cyprus display a flagrant abuse of human rights. Immigration just swipe people off the streets, but this is not the answer to whatever problems they think they have.”
Hefter has outlined fifteen points where she feels Cyprus is violating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Clive added that, “we are informing EU commissioners, MEPs, the UN Commissioner for Human Rights and the international media such as the BBC and Sky News that Cyprus is treating refugees in an unacceptable manner and is riding rough shod over procedures that are required.

“Departments, systems and officers within the government are not being brought up to date. They have not been informed or educated as to how they now have to act in the western world as an EU member state. It will be to their cost when they face the heavy financial and other penalties that they will incur through the EU and from the individual actions by the offended parties concerned.”

Responding to the Dowdall family’s accusations, Chief Immigration Officer, Anni Shakalis said that, “Mr Islam arrived in Cyprus under unknown conditions, possibly through the occupied areas. On October 15, 2003 he applied for political asylum. He did not appear for his requested interview to have his application examined, resulting in the closure of his file. His lawyer sent a letter to the Asylum Service, who decided to examine his application, and his file was reopened on October 10, 2005. The next thing we heard was that he withdrew his application on November 11, stating that he no longer feared persecution back in Bangladesh.

“He went to the Paphos Immigration Police Department later that day, with his wife, applying for residency and produced his marriage certificate. The police acted on the fact that he had lost his status as an asylum seeker when he withdrew his application and proceeded to arrest him as a prohibited immigrant.

“The police then requested the relevant orders from me. After studying the reports, I proceeded with a deportation order on the grounds that Mr Islam was an illegal immigrant under section 6 (1) Paragraph K of the Aliens and Immigration Law.”

She went on to say that, “it is my view that marriage celebrated to a Cypriot or other EU citizen, does not, on its own, make legal the stay of a prohibited immigrant in the Republic.

“Additionally, I would like to state that I am not aware of any of the above allegations which have been made by the Dowdall family or that Mr Islam had suffered from any unfair or inappropriate treatment.”

Lydia is currently in Bangladesh with Saif, where the couple are planning their future.