Inhumane conditions and destitution for vulnerable families were described at Monday’s Human Rights Committee session, with MPs making shocking allegations about cases including minors who ended up on the street.
MP Irene Charalambidou highlighted a case involving a Lebanese family with six children, aged 5 to 17, who were left homeless and without food whilst awaiting repatriation.
The incident prompted the committee to take up the issue of “managing housing for vulnerable families with minor children when repatriation is imminent.”
But MPs revealed the Lebanese family wasn’t the only one left exposed due to poor coordination between state agencies.
MP Christos Senekis said KEDIPES evicted a family with a quadriplegic child. After struggling to find accommodation, they secured a two-room house and converted the garage into a bedroom for the child. The garage has no internal door connecting to the house, and the rain has trapped the child there—the family can’t move them inside.
In another case, Senekis said, someone lives in a prefab behind their brother’s house and lost access to electricity and water after the brothers fell out.
Deputy Minister of Migration and International Protection Nicholas Ioannides said the Lebanese family case upset him. “It is very sad what happened with this specific family. It upsets us. Our efforts are always the protection of the individual’s rights,” he said.
The family tried to relocate to another country but withdrew their own application, Ioannides said. They lived in Kofinou at Limnes. Then they changed their minds and applied for asylum in Cyprus. They had to move, but the new circumstances created confusion. Now they want to go back to Lebanon, he said.
The shifting circumstances confused the agencies, and nothing was done deliberately, the deputy minister stressed. “It is an isolated case and I agree it is unacceptable,” Ioannides said. Spaces are being prepared for both asylum seekers and those seeking repatriation, he added.
Addressing the Welfare Services, Charalambidou demanded answers. They gave the family money for rent, she said. When the money ran out, they threw them out and left them on the street without food.
Yiannis Nikolaidis, general director of the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare, denied the accusations. Actions were taken and the crisis was managed, he said. “It is unfair to say that Social Welfare Services (SWS) do not handle such cases with sensitivity and speed.”
Police said the family arrived from Lebanon by boat in 2022, heading for Italy. The family has nine members—one daughter married in Cyprus—and they had the right to go to Kofinou, a police representative said.
Charalambidou pushed back. They weren’t accepted in Kofinou, she said. After being left on the street first, pressure got them into a hotel—but they were left without food.
Charalambidou demanded written reports from SWS and police on how they handled it, and answers from the Deputy Ministry on who was responsible. “If this family could go to a European court, Cyprus would receive another conviction,” she said.