Filenews 11 September 2023 - by Dora Christodoulou
At the end of last week, the process of implementing the decisions at the Presidential Palace in the case of Chloraka was completed, with the official sealing of the Agios Nikolas building complex, which had been blocked by the Police regarding the entrance to it, to prevent the resettlement of migrants.
Its residents are now obliged to find other places of residence, while the attention of the authorities is now focused on the wider area of western Pafos where it is assumed that many of the illegals of Chloraka took refuge, in order to prevent in time a new ghettoization similar to that of Chloraka.
Recently, it was found that the number of foreigners using the apartments had increased significantly to about 500, 250 of African origin and 250 Syrians with subsidiary protection status.
According to the registration completed by the Pafos Police Directorate, the Ministry of Defence, the MMAD and officers of the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare and the Asylum Service of the Ministry of Interior, the migrants who remained until the closure of the Agios Nikolaos complex in Chloraka amounted to almost 250.
According to the authorities, 36 of the residents there were voluntarily taken to the Reception and Accommodation Centre for Applicants for International Protection in Kofinou, while two people who were found to be staying illegally in the Republic of Cyprus were arrested and detained until the procedures for their deportation were initiated. Now, the relocation of the rest to other accommodations across Cyprus is in progress.
The completion of the registration phase, however, confirms the concern that prevailed from the beginning in the local community in Paphos that the vast majority of migrants had managed to leave the disputed building complex in time to avoid the consequences of illegal arrival and stay in Cyprus. Every day, the police and other authorities of Pafos receive specific information from citizens about the settlement of foreigners in residences in the communities around Chloraka, but also in areas of the wider low Pafos.
Based on this information, the relocation of illegal aliens is taking place on the basis of a plan involving other persons already residing in these areas who provided assistance to the residents of the Chloraka complex to escape from there before the police operation began, as well as to transfer their household effects to premises in the new areas.
