Exclusive, "Akhbar al-Yawm" agency

Nicosia joins Beirut in calling for safe Syrian areas

In the latest official position, Cypriot President Nicos Christodoulides said on Sunday that his country "cannot accept more Syrian refugees", stressing that "we are not in a position to receive more Syrian refugees. We have reached our limits and we can no longer cope with this influx of refugees", he said. 

Christodoulides reiterated what Lebanon has been calling for, for a long time, saying: "we explicitly demand that certain areas in Syria be classified as safe zones".

In comparison with the current situation in Lebanon, a Cypriot diplomatic source says about the displaced Syrians: "the number of arrivals is increasing, they are arriving by hundreds in boats, and they are trying every day to reach the island coming from Lebanon in search of asylum, warning that continuing as it is, the situation will be dire, saying: Syrians may fight among each other in Nicosia, or they may fight with Cypriots in Paphos, or attack houses in Larnaca...".

He adds: "In Lebanon, their number has reached almost 2.5 million, they kill Lebanese every day, rob, overrun key areas, while the Lebanese government can do nothing!"

Why do they come to Cyprus? The same source answers: "Simply the geographical proximity, the poor performance of the government, coupled with the European general rules entitled "humanitarian reasons", but in the end the result is the same: the displaced Syrians in every Cypriot city, on every street, have their own networks and know how to deal with the law". He continues: "they have specific lawyers when they are brought to court... They even have contacts with the police to protect them".

The source considers that "today in Cyprus there is what can be called a very organized and powerful "Syrian mafia", which exceeds the danger of the old "traditional Cypriot Mafia", where Syrians control the drug market in Nicosia and Ayanapa mainly".

Similar to the situation in Lebanon, the source points out that "the real problem of Cyprus remains in the judicial system, which is a weak system based on democracy and humanitarian rules".

The Cypriot source warns of the spread of displaced people on the Turkish side of the island, saying: "We will soon have Syrian streets and areas in this part".

And who bears responsibility? The source says: "President Christodoulides and all political parties have the same responsibilities".