THE MINISTERIAL Committee for Labour is in the process of assessing the appointment of a commissioner or a special committee to deal with issues of racism, a senior Interior Ministry official said yesterday.
The Labour, Interior and Justice Ministers met on Thursday to discuss the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance’s (ECRI) report on Cyprus, Interior Ministry Permanent Secretary Kyriakos Triandafyllides told the Cyprus Mail.
The ECRI’s work programme involves a country-by-country approach, whereby it analyses the situation with respect to racism and intolerance in each of the member States of the Council of Europe and makes suggestions and proposals as to how to deal with the problems identified.
In December 2000, the Commission’s second report was published, and although was critical of Cyprus, Triandayllides maintained it could not be labelled “damning”.
A lot of the issues touched upon had already been amended with the introduction of appropriate laws, he said. Others are in the pipeline.
“You have to take into consideration that this report was published nearly two years ago and therefore is outdated,” he said. “Since then, there have been a number of changes here, such as the establishment of a refugee political asylum, which we did not have before.”
The Ministerial Committee was now examining how to tackle discrimination in the workforce and what legal instruments would best accomplish this, he said, adding that similar committees existed in a number of countries abroad and that it was only natural that Cyprus should follow suit and keep up with the times.
“But nothing has been formally decided yet,” Triandafyllides said. “The ministers were merely discussing a number of possible suggestions, one of which was the appointment of a commissioner or committee to handle such matters. They will then take put their proposals to the Cabinet of Ministers and it is they who will study the suggestions and come up with a final decision.” He could not outline a timeframe for when that decision would be made.
“At present, we have a national committee that deals with human rights, which also includes abuse of foreign workers. What we are talking about here is a subcommittee on racism that would deal purely with discrimination complaints based on race, as well as drawing up specific legislation with penal offences,” said Triandafyllides. An example of such a complaint could be applied to a case several years ago when two business executives from Senegal were refused entry into Cyprus at Larnaca airport despite having documentation validating their reason for being here, he said.
“In that instance, if a commissioner or committee had been in place, the two individuals could have directed their complaint there.”
Whether a the Cabinet decides on a single commissioner or committee of members to deal with racism issues one thing is for certain, he, she or they will have to have a specific background.
“I can’t say for certain of course, but it is my evaluation that members on the committee, for instance, would have to be legal experts with a certain amount of experience and expertise in human rights.”
He added the government had already started re-educating civil servants on racism and how to deal with foreigners. “In the police force for instance, cadets are given special training so that they know how to behave in certain situations once they have completed the academy,” he said.
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.
