Cyprus - September 2023

On 1 September, an anti-immigration demonstration in Limassol, a port city in southern Cyprus, spiralled into violent mobs damaging migrant-owned shops and perpetrating racist attacks, leading to the hospitalisation of five people. These attacks escalate and entrench an existing phenomenon in which migrants are targeted and made to feel unsafe in their communities, and are likely to erode the trust of migrant communities in law enforcement. NGOs have reported a recent surge in racist attacks against migrants and refugees, after far-right groups attacked migrants in Chloraka in August and two people were injured in Limassol in June. Police arrested 13 people including the organiser of the 1 September demonstration. Local anti-racism and migrant rights organisation Kisa reported that it had contacted the police to warn them in advance that the attacks were being coordinated on social media, but the police did not respond to Kisa’s offer to share the information it had gathered. Kisa has accused authorities of failure to protect migrants and to hold far-right attackers accountable.

Sources: Amnesty International, Kisa, In-Cyprus, Euronews, European Council on Refugees and Exiles, Cyprus Mail, DW, Politis