Refugee faces eviction from Limassol home
By Anna Hassapi
Lost housing rights after accepting £750 from state
GREEK CYPRIOT refugee, Andreas Theodorou, is up in arms after being told to vacate his residence at Linopetra refugee estate in Limassol, where he has been staying since 1976.
The decision to expel Theodorou was made after the death of his elderly mother, with whom the 44-year-old man had been living, on the pretext that he lost the right to housing aid when he accepted £750 from the state in 1992.
“Under no circumstances can I accept this unfair treatment against me, as I am essentially trapped because of a ridiculous amount, in my opinion, which I accepted as a gift without knowing the legal bearing of my action. [As a result] I lost my right to the house, which I believe the state should grant me,” Theodorou said.
According to the relevant law, each refugee is entitled to housing aid only once and thus Theodorou is not entitled to anything after getting the £750 in 1992. Had he not received this amount from the state, then he would have been entitled to inheriting his mother’s house, as all his siblings have received housing aid and have moved elsewhere.
The 44-year-old challenges the validity of the state’s interpretation of the law for three main reasons: he was not aware that by accepting the £750 he would lose the right to claim his mother’s house; the amount is trivial compared to the average housing aid received by Greek Cypriot refugees, and the £750 was put towards a second toilet in the house for his sick mother and not to buy a house.
“Anytime they ask me, I am willing to return the £750 plus all interest in order to have the right to stay in the refugee house where I grew up,” Theodorou added.
After he was asked to leave the house, Theodorou sent a letter to the Interior Ministry, explaining his situation and asking that his case is reviewed.
The Ministry replied that as he had accepted housing aid in 1992 he cannot be entitled to the house. The state also refused to consider Theodorou’s suggestion of returning the money in exchange for the house. Following the man’s refusal to vacate the house the state has set a Court date for January 20.
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2008
the GC refugees seem to have either been given a house to be passed over to their family or it seems a silly amount of money to keep them happy...Money aside.....How do they stand in the grand scheme of "Refugees" in the homeless sense and if they now have property in the "RoC" what happens to their land in the TRNC????? Seems like something else significant that we have not been informed about.....
Could this be the reason that very few GCs apply to the property commission in the TRNC. The government plan to lesson the EU given authority of the commission? The same games played over and over again....
He falls for it every time
