BRITAIN has reportedly set a precedent where Turkish Cypriot holders of a Cyprus passport can seek asylum in the UK, newspapers in the north reported yesterday.
Afrika (formerly Avrupa) and Yeniduzen newspapers said the precedent would help Turkish Cypriots who hold Cyprus passports and now face a hefty fine or two years in jail.
In a front-page article, Afrika said that “the British Government, which so far granted asylum right to bearers of TRNC passports, will now grant settlement and residence rights to the bearers of the Republic of Cyprus passports.”
Britain clamped down on asylum to Turkish Cypriot ‘passport’ holders three years ago after a flood of applications from residents of the north, and also introduced visa requirements for Turkish Cypriots, which caused a storm of protest.
This – together with the approaching prospect of EU membership -prompted increasing numbers of Turkish Cypriots born before 1974 to apply for Cyprus Republic passports, outraging Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.
Now the breakaway regime is pushing through a ‘law’, which will sentence Turkish Cypriots who hold Cyprus passports to a fine of two billion Turkish lira and/or two years in jail. Voting on the ‘passport law’ has been postponed until today, Afrika said.
“If it is passed in the Assembly, Turkish Cypriots who possess such passports will be at risk, with the immediate consequence that they will be granted political asylum rights by the British Government,” the paper said, adding that such a law would lead to even more emigration by the Turkish Cypriots.
The Afrika article was based on a report by the newspaper’s London Correspondent, who said it was based on the experience of one Turkish Cypriot in the UK.
The unnamed person was reported as saying: “I told the British that I did have a Greek Cypriot passport. They told me that if I went to Cyprus with that passport, I would be in trouble. I was really shocked. They advised me to apply for asylum. But the people who advised me were not from the Home Office. It was someone I knew. However, the clerks accepted our argument and I now have a residence permit”.
British High Commission spokesman Jonathan Allen said yesterday they were unaware of the case. He said it was unlikely that an asylum case could have been settled in such a way without first informing the High Commission in Nicosia. Also he said the new ‘law’ in the north had not yet been passed. “They might have given him an extension to remain or a work permit and perhaps he misunderstood,” Allen said. He added that the High Commission would look into the incident with London.
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.
