Elderly refugees turfed out of their home

BULLDOZERS moved in before dawn in Xylotymbou village yesterday morning to demolish the home of two elderly refugees who had doggedly refused to budge despite an eviction order.

On Monday, Angelis Mina, 86, and his sister Kyriakou, 82, had won round one of their battle against the bulldozers by refusing to leave their home long enough to give fellow villagers and Diko deputy Marios Matsakis time to intervene. Angelis and Kyriacou’s home – which they have lived in since abandoning Kontea village in 1974 – was propped up by fellow villagers to try and limit the damage done by the earth-removers.

But the siblings’ luck ran out at 5am yesterday when the bulldozers moved in to finish the job before fellow-villagers had a chance to respond.

Angelis and Kyriacou were left out on the street with their meagre belongings.

The siblings owned one sixth of the land on which their home stood, but the owners of the other five sixths decided to sell it to a developer, a move they were, by law, entitled to make. They offered Angelis £14,000 and help to move to the Aik refugee estate outside Larnaca in an attempt to convince him to agree to the sale, but he declined. The money was deposited in an account in Angelis’s name and the property on which his home stood sold.

With the elderly refugees still refusing to leave their home, the new owner secured an eviction order and sent the bulldozers in.

Angelis and Kyriacou were yesterday staying in temporary accommodation till a new home could be found for them.

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