Filenews 15 August 2023 - by Dora Christodoulou
The situation in Chloraka is becoming increasingly worrying due to the continued illegal stay of hundreds of foreigners in a residential complex in which their stay has been prohibited by both government and court decisions.
A few hours after the march and protest in the streets of the community by foreigners protesting against their inhumane treatment, dozens of them attacked in the evening a police force that was monitoring the EAC substation in the area so that electricity is not intercepted for the electricity supply of premises where foreigners are staying illegally.
The finding that the Police for one more night, applying the decisions of the competent bodies of the Republic, guarded the substation from which dozens of premises have been illegally and without paying for electricity, caused a strong reaction of the residents to them. They first verbally attacked the members of the force and then stoned them and the police vehicles, damaging one of them. This riot action ended with the intervention of a force of the MMAD and reinforcements of the Pafos Directorate that arrived in the area.
Monday's serious incidents provoked a strong reaction in the Chlorakas community authority and among the Cypriot residents of the area. After the evening events, the president of the community, Nikolas Liasidis, called on the state to intervene immediately and with practical measures to stop Chloraka being a field of action of illegals on the territory of the Republic. He called for those who, despite the decrees, continue to live there, stealing electricity and water for their subsistence, to be removed from the housing complex and transferred to reception facilities like all those arriving in Cyprus.
He warned that the situation is now borderline with the tolerance of the local community, which is only one step away from responding with similar actions such as those he watches illegal aliens do.
Before the evening riots against police officers, foreigners had gathered and marched through the community's main streets, chanting slogans and holding placards reading "We are people, not animals." They argued that not all foreigners residing in the area are illegal in Cyprus, nor do they all participate in illegal activities such as electricity theft, voluntary appropriation of premises and participation in burglaries and thefts.
They called for an end to measures to prevent the continuation of electricity supply to premises that steal electricity and water, on the grounds that this would allow those who remain there to find other accommodation to leave the area.
