Filenews 23 March 2022 - byMichalis Hadjivasilis
A reversal of the incident occurred on the issue of the transfer of 150 unaccompanied children from the Pournara Center to a hotel accommodation in the free area of Famagusta.
While yesterday the children were scheduled to move, the owner of the site backtracked and so the agreement was not signed to allow the movement of the children. After this development, the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare, which had carried out all the preparatory works for the movement of the children, moved swiftly and in consultation with the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, another accommodation was found, in Paphos this time. In fact, the approval of the mayor of Pafos was also received so that there would be no reactions, as was the case with the mayor of Paralimni, Theodoros Pyrilis, who reacted strongly to the movement of children, saying that Ayia Napa and Protaras will not become Pournara.
Yesterday, the Deputy Minister of Welfare, Anastasia Anthousi, went to Pournara and informed the unaccompanied children herself about this development, so that they would know about the change due to the attitude of the owner of the complex and not the Government.
As he mentioned, the Deputy Ministry is already moving rapidly to an alternative solution for the rapid transfer of 150 unaccompanied children to Paphos, after the sudden problem caused by the withdrawal from the agreements of the owner of a tourist accommodation in the free province of Famagusta.
Following the developments, the transfer of the children will now take place next week. According to the Deputy Ministry, both the Social Welfare Services and all the competent services had taken rapid steps for the implementation of the instructions of the President of the Republic and the relevant decision of the Council of Ministers, dated March 16, 2022. In five days all the necessary preparatory work was done for the immediate transfer of the minor children from the First Reception Center "Pournara" to accommodation in the free district of Famagusta.
The necessary staffing of caregivers, social workers, as well as all the necessary material for the care and feeding of the children was ensured. At the same time, in consultation with the Ministry of Education, the OMC and Non-Governmental Organizations, actions were taken for the education and activities of the children within the area, while in coordination with the Ministry of Justice and the Police, the issue of security and with the cooperation of the Asylum Service, the safe transportation and the procedures for the completion of the evaluation of the applications within the site were settled.
Unfortunately, however, the planned for today (yesterday) transfer was postponed after the information we received about the refusal of the owner of the accommodation to sign the text of the agreement, which we had reached. After this development and with the decisive contribution of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, another accommodation has been immediately identified in Paphos and we have already resumed all the procedures for its preparation. The aim is to enable the children to be transported within the next few days and without further delay.
Meanwhile, seven other Somali children, left Pournara the other night and went outside the Hope for Children facility in the centre of Nicosia and joined the other two children who were already there. With them, officers of the Social Welfare Services spent the night in order to be safe, while despite the urgings of the officers, they refuse to return to the facility. Also, officials of the Catholic Church invited the children to enter the covered areas, but they preferred to stay in two small tents.
