Si vous voulez manger, descendez

ONE OF the seven asylum seekers protesting on top of Nicosia’s immigrant detention centre had to be taken down by forklift last night and rushed to hospital for malnutrition after being deprived of food and water for a third day running, according to one detainee who wished to remain anonymous.

Six Iranians and one Afghan climbed onto the water tank of the roof of Nicosia’s Central Prisons on Saturday after the government failed to meet the deadline it had set on solving their long-standing issues.

This is the second time in a month the asylum seekers have resorted to extreme measures to highlight their plight, protesting against the illegality and length of time they have been kept in custody.

The government succeeded in getting them down last month by promising to review their files within 15 days. When no official word came after the proposed date, the men took to the roof again, claiming that all promises had been broken by the government.

The seven have been held in detention for a number of years in the now-infamous Block 10 where immigrants who are in legal limbo end up being detained indefinitely.

The seven requested water, which was refused to them, according to one Block 10 detainee who managed to speak to the Cyprus Mail last night. He said claims that they were offered food and water were false. "The boys asked for water but were told if you want it you have to come down from the water tank. But they won’t. They all agreed before going up that this time they would not come down until a solution was finally found," said the detainee.

When the forklift arrived to bring down the Afghan who had fainted, the remaining six tied cloth round their necks and threatened to jump if anyone tried to remove them by force.

Interior Minister Christos Patsalides said the government would not yield to blackmail. "We want to deal with the issue of detainees who are in Cyprus illegally in a humane way as long as they co-operate and respect the state. Unfortunately, they are not co-operating and trying to use blackmail." The minister added that though it was their right to take advice from others, they should not be incited to such a great extent.

In response, Doros Polycarpou, head of KISA- Action for Equality, Support and Antiracism, questioned whether the government really did respect their right to take counsel. He rubbished claims that he had convinced the seven to stay up on the roof. Defence Minister Christodoulos Pashiardis, acting on behalf of the Justice Minister, took a harder approach to the protestors. "They were ready to come down the other night until they received a mysterious phone call which changed their mind." Asked if they had received food and water since Saturday, Pashiardis said food and water was available for those who wanted it, but first they would have to come down.

The seven all had their applications for asylum rejected but now refuse to return to their country of origin out of fear of persecution. The Iranian men who are no longer in possession of any identity documents must sign a form stating their desire to return to Iran, which they have refused to do.

Although their applications were rejected for not fulfilling the legal criteria, this latest episode might give them a chance for a new claim as, since their plight has been made public, it might be considered dangerous for them to return.

Their demands are for the government to guarantee them freedom of movement, an end to detention and political asylum.

Ombudswoman Iliana Nicolaou told state radio yesterday that she had made several recommendations since 2005 for the government to end the indefinite detention of illegal migrants and failed asylum seekers who had not committed any crime.

"You cannot keep people detained indefinitely so they don’t know what’s going to happen to them. I have made my recommendation on this. It seems the Interior Ministry is not yet ready to discuss this," she said.

Nicolaou said the government had yet to act on her proposals because they were seeing the issue as a political one, and were wary of setting any precedents.

Block 10 detention centre has come under repeated criticism from human rights organisations for not being a fit place to hold people for more than a few days.

The detainee who spoke to the Cyprus Mail said last night : "We understand Cyprus gets a lot of bogus claims, but for those of us who come from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon, we have real problems."

Regarding the Afghan who was rushed to hospital, he said : "Now they have come and cleaned his room, which means they will take him somewhere else. They are trying to break us up."

Meanwhile, police have launched an investigation into how the seven managed to occupy the rooftop for a second time in one month. http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/