Filenews 14 April 2022
Disappearances of eleven unaccompanied minors from third countries reveals a note from the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare, which was submitted today to the Interior Committee of the Parliament, which discussed the political management of migration flows.
The Deputy Ministry's note records that 11 unaccompanied minors were reported as missing persons to the Police from 2019 to April 2022 and who have not been identified so far.
Specifically, in the note of the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare, it is noted that in 2019 4 unaccompanied children disappeared, in 2021 3 unaccompanied children disappeared and in 2022 4 unaccompanied children disappeared.
Disy MP Kyriakos Hatzigiannis said after the Committee's meeting that it is inconceivable that my own child will be lost and that the Police will implement a different policy than if a migrant child is lost. "The same procedures, the same legislation, the same zeal should be applied where they believe that children have been lost, and if children have indeed been lost, the state, the Police, must bring results and find them," he said and stressed that children from third countries are not thrown away and children of another God.
The rule of law should operate on the same basis as for every citizen, Added Mr. Hatzigiannis, saying however that if indeed these children are ignored, they should be sought. He said, however, that he cannot create a journalistic issue as a politician since there is no evidence and urged journalists to look into the matter on the part of the Police.
Ecologist MP Alexandra Attalidou, in her own statements, said that 5 children are missing, with the first one missing since last October. These children, he said, were in Pournara and under the control of the state and have disappeared, which is too serious.
Asked if there is any information about where the children may have perished, Ms Attalidou said she has asked a parliamentary question about the circumstances in which they perished and based on the information these children were in Pournara. He said that if 5 Cypriot children were lost, the whole society would be angry and stressed that it is not possible for 5 children from third countries to be lost and for the whole society not to be on alert.
He said that when he saw a police statement he looked into the matter finding that one is missing from October 2021 and the other 4 this year. He said that based on and with EU investigations, children had been lost in the Union who entered and registered and wondered whether these children were victims of organ trafficking or sexual trafficking.
"We need this society to get on alert to see what happened to these children, otherwise we are a society that lags far behind when issues that concern others are raised and we do not show the same sensitivity," he said.
Within the Committee, there was no discussion of this issue, while in a more general context the Deputy Minister of Social Welfare Anastasia Anthousi announced that in the coming days a tender will be announced for a permanent solution to the settlement of unaccompanied children. The transfer of children to Paphos was a temporary solution.
The President of the Interior Committee Aristos Diamanou in his own statements for the meeting of the Committee said that planning is needed in the absence of European support for the migration issue.
In particular, Mr. Damianou indicated that there is a lack of coordination between the Ministry of Interior and the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare and that there are serious delays in the examination of applications at the asylum service.
The Parliamentary Representative of DIKO Panicos Leonidou said that there is a lack of comprehensive planning in dealing with migration, that there are serious deficits in the integration of immigrants in Cypriot society and that there is a possibility that the Republic of Cyprus will be accused of violations of migrant rights.
Unfortunately, according to the relevant report of the Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of the Child, there are serious deficiencies in the treatment that children should have received in particular, but also in terms of physical infrastructure. There is also, he continued, a violation of the right of education and entertainment of children since no educational program is provided.
"As a state, we must provide decent living conditions for all people who are in the Republic of Cyprus, while at the same time safeguarding the interests of the country and our fellow citizens", said Mr. Leonidou.
CNA
