Cyprus: Masked men attack migrants and destroy shops

in Violent demonstrations Against migrants, several people were injured in Cyprus. The Cypriot police announced on Saturday… The coastal city of Limassol, the island’s second-largest city, nearly 500 people took to the streets on Friday evening. Rubbish bins were set on fire and some stores were vandalized. Five people were injured and 13 others were arrested.

Cypriot media quoted eyewitnesses as saying that some foreigners were attacked. The police used water cannons against the demonstrators, some of whom carried a sign reading “Refugees are not welcome.”

The head of state calls for a crisis meeting

Cypriot Head of State Nikos Christodoulides summoned the police chief and the interior and justice ministers to an emergency meeting on Saturday. Speaking to reporters, Christodoulides said the photos from Limassol were “shameful”.

About 20 people were arrested on Tuesday in violent clashes between Cypriots and migrants near the western resort of Paphos. The authorities there began evacuating Syrians from a dilapidated residential complex.

Many asylum applications in Cyprus

According to European Union information, Cyprus receives the largest number of asylum applications annually in the European Union, relative to its population. According to authorities, migrants now make up nearly six percent of the population.

However, according to the Cypriot Ministry of the Interior, the number of asylum applications between March and July fell by more than half compared to the same period last year. However, police data showed an increase in the number of refugees illegally arriving in Cyprus by sea. Accordingly, more than 500 people arrived on the island on small fishing boats or rubber boats during the past three months, the vast majority of them from Syria.

(AFP/BRI)