NILS Muižnieks, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, has expressed regret over the UK’s refusal to resettle 67 refugees and asylum seekers, stranded for almost 18 years in the British Bases in Cyprus.
In an interview with the Cyprus News Agency following the publication of his latest report on Cyprus, Muižnieks reportedly said he understands London’s reservations, which does not want to signal the opening of a potential route to the UK for migrants and smugglers, however, he urged the British government to reconsider the cases, saying that all concerns have been addressed by a 2003 Cyprus-UK agreement.
“Such concerns should be put to rest by the fact that the provisions of the Memorandum of Understanding, signed by the UK and Cyprus, have addressed and resolved such issues in a definitive manner for arrivals post-2003.”
Last January, the Commissioner had asked the UK authorities to “examine favourably” the cases of the 67 refugees and asylum seekers – mainly Kurds from Iraq, Syria and Iran. All are suffering from “serious psychological problems, including severe depression”, according to a psychological assessment.
The Commissioner welcomed Cyprus’ participation in the EU emergency relocation scheme aiming to address the refugee crisis and called on authorities to review all asylum applications on an individual basis.
“There are certain positive developments regarding asylum in Cyprus, such as the recent increase in the level of international protection recognition,” Muižnieks noted.
In his report, the Commissioner noted that 90 per cent of asylum seekers in 2014 have entered Cyprus from the Turkish-occupied part of the island. Despite the additional burden, he said the Republic of Cyprus has the obligation to carefully and individually examine all asylum applications, including those submitted by asylum seekers entering from the north.
In the interview, he also commented on the missing persons in Cyprus.
“More efforts are needed in Cyprus to disclose the truth,” he said, and praised the important work carried out by the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP).
“The passage of time makes it harder to identify the remains of victims, and increases the suffering of their families,” he added.
“Many efforts were made by both sides in recent months, (but) more efforts are needed and everything should be done by all sides to finally disclose the truth and provide reparation to victims’ families.”
“I hope that progress made so far in the peace negotiations will have a positive impact on and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the work of CMP,” he concluded.
The Human Rights Commissioner is about to travel to Turkey, where concerns over media freedom have recently put the country in the spotlight.
It is necessary to “ensure a pluralist, free and safe media in that country,” he said ahead of his meetings there with journalists and authorities. A report with recommendations will follow at the end of his visit.
