(Zaman Al Wasl)- After escaping the war towards the unknown, Mohamed Al Arabi (a pseudonym) ended up in detention in Manouia prison in Cypriot city of Larnaca city for over 7 months without trial or an official charge, leaving his wife and children to fend for themselves.
Al-Arabi, 34, tried to travel from Lebanon to Canada, where his in-laws lived, but he was unable to get protection from Lebanon, so in mid-2019, he decided to venture illegally along with his wife, two children and a number of friends and relatives. His only options were either to go back to Syria, where he had an arrest warrant against him, or to move to Cyprus, where refugees were unwelcome, but where had acquaintances and relatives as well as speaking Greek.
After a dangerous journey that lasted for a day and night, the boat reached Cyprus’ territorial waters and 33 passengers were immediately arrested under physical and verbal violence. After intense investigation, they were transferred to a temporary camp in which Syrians usually stay for three days before they are allowed to look for housing.
Al-Arabi said that the police investigated him rigorously, asking mostly about his religion and religious views, praying habits, and militant groups in Syria. He was, then, informally accused of posing a threat to national security and charged of human trafficking.
The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, casts a multitude of restrictions and accusations on the refugees, despite their humanitarian facade, presenting, according to our source, a “battalion” that reports back to governments, which was confirmed to him after meeting a representative from Frontex.
Two hours after the meeting, Mohamed was arrested. During the investigation, their questions were mostly about religion, but what surprised him was the pictures of him standing beside the steering wheel of the boat. However, their accusations are baseless, when the coast guard arrived, he was lying on the boat hugging his children because he was suffering from seasickness, and one of the passengers asked him to translate because he speaks Greek. He was shocked further when they told him that his name was on Interpol notice lists, despite only being to Cyrus and Lebanon after leaving Syria.
“You arrest us, you put whatever words you like in our mouths, and then you become angry because we speak frankly about what happened.”
According to the available data, around 7 thousand refugees arrived in Cyprus and applied for asylum between January and June 2019. The number of unresolved applications has increased to 15 thousand. Despite being only 160 km away from the Syrian coast, Cyprus has not witnessed the massive influx of refugees that Turkey and Greece had.
Zaman A Wasl
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