Cyprus-Forum.com

[Zox]

What will happen to deported couple’s children
By Alexia Saoulli

THE CHILDREN of a Serbian woman arrested last week and held in police custody pending her deportation continued to keep their spirits high in the hope that their mother would be released soon, a family friend said yesterday.

Meanwhile the ombudswoman yesterday called on immigration authorities to release Jasmina Drazic as her detention was not in the best interests of the children and was in violation of the Convention of the Rights of the Child.

Jasmina Drazic was separated from her 17-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter by immigration officials last Tuesday because she had overstayed her visa.

Last year immigration refused to extend the visa of Jasmina and her husband Zoran Drazic, after they been living and working legally on the island since 1999. Zoran was deported in September and now officials are trying to deport Jasmina.

The children are said to have been fending for themselves under the watchful eye of family friends while their mother is in detention.

Immigration police told the Cyprus Mail that Social Services had been contacted as soon as the mother had been arrested and that she had named a close family friend as their temporary guardian.
“A social services official went to see the children and they said a family friend would be staying with them. They said they were fine,” an immigration officer said.

Social Services also said the children were eligible for financial support.

Anita Koni, who deals with family welfare service and social defence at the Services’ head office in Nicosia said: “I do not know the specifics of the case, but will look into it. However, children who are minors and whose parents have been deported or detained, can either stay in their own homes if they’re old enough or be placed in the care of a close family friend or relative. The state also ensures they receive some financial aid.”

According to the family friend, who wished to remain unnamed, the children had not yet received any money from the state.

“They are very strong, very proud and very self disciplined. Despite everything that’s happened to them this past week they have had the courage to go on and fight,” she said.

She added: “They’re stressed and insecure about what the future holds for them. Will they be able to finish school in Cyprus or will they be forced to leave? Will their mum be deported or will she be allowed to stay? We don’t talk about those things and keeping telling them she is going to be released and that they’ll finish school here.”

The children have been attending public schools since they arrived in Cyprus six years ago. The 16-year-old girl is in her third year at gymnasium and the 17-year-old boy is in his second year at Lyceum, she said.

They visit their mother every day at around 3.30pm and stay for about 30 minutes to an hour. They then go home and do chores around the house including cooking, cleaning, washing and ironing.

“They are very proud and say they don’t want any help and that they can do it all themselves. They are coping very well under the circumstances and have tremendous self-discipline. The boy had a test today and spent all day yesterday studying. It’s hard for most boys his age to study, let alone one that is going through what he is at the moment,” the family friend said. Had it been any other children they might well have fallen apart, she added.

Nevertheless their conscientiousness and sense of responsibility did not mean they were not vulnerable; at the end of the day they were children, she said.

The ombudswoman – whose report was finally completed yesterday following repeated delays due to immigration’s procrastination in sending over Drazic’s files – agrees. She had been asked to examine the case after the couple’s lawyer asked her to.

Iliana Nicolaou concluded the rights of both children had been entirely ignored.

She said: “The administration has completely ignored the effects their father’s deportation followed by the arrest of their mother and her threatened deportation would have. Despite the violent separation of the family unit due to the removal of both parents, no satisfactory measure has been taken for the sufficient care and protection, mainly, of the children who essentially live alone.”

She added: “No measure has been taken to offer them effective support, whether it is psychological, financial or another kind, while they live alone. Their mother’s recommendation that a family friend be responsible for them, which was made under particularly stressful circumstances during her detention, can under no circumstances be considered a satisfactory arrangement for their protection.”

The ombudswoman said the authorities had failed to reach a decision which was in the best interest of the minors and that by doing so had failed to comply with provisions specified in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

“My suggestion is that the children’s mother is released and her residency application is re-examined under the scope of my observations as a whole and without ignoring the family’s long term residency in Cyprus,” said Nicolaou.

An EU-directive requires that people living in European countries for over five years must be granted long-term residency rights.
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Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2005

[twinkle]

Can you let me know the EU directive and I will check to see if it has been passed into Cypriot Law. unfortunately, Cyprus is rather slow at implementing thes laws.... Good luck.

[Zox]

The EU directive has been passed into Cyprus Law at 24th January 2006...
But, they need some time to prepare themselves... heh...

BUT

By the existing law according to third countries investments and companies, we satisfied all rules, we done "all by the book" to bee granted for permanent residents. We pay taxes and vat’s regularly, we pay social and pension founds, we pay tax for the national defense, we pay life insurance (a lot !)…

[Zox]

The EU directive has been passed into Cyprus Law at 24th January 2006...
But, they need some time to prepare themselves... heh...

BUT

By the existing law according to third countries investments and companies, we satisfied all rules, we done "all by the book" to bee granted for permanent residents. We pay taxes and vat’s regularly, we pay social and pension founds, we pay tax for the national defense, we pay life insurance (a lot !)…

[twinkle]

It has been passed but obviously not in force.

[Zox]

9th day in the prison...

[Maria28]

I am very sorry about you and your family Zox. I hope everything will turn OK in the end.

[coredump]

"Status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents"
http://europa.eu.int/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l23034.htm

Entry into force: 12.02.2004
Deadline for transposition in the Member States: 23.01.2006

Full text: http://europa.eu.int/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=en&type_doc=Directive&an_doc=2003&nu_doc=109
(PDF: http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUri ... 053:EN:PDF)

As to implementation in Cyprus:
http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.ph ... &archive=1

‘Immigration has no intention of enacting EU law’
By Elias Hazou
(archive article - Thursday, January 26, 2006)

A FOREIGN national trying to renew a work visa at the Department of Immigration was told to ‘go back to his country’ this week, in just one of many incidents listed by an anti-racism action group yesterday.

The government was supposed to enforce – not just adopt – an EU directive upgrading the status of foreign nationals by January 23. But according to Doros Polycarpou, who heads immigrant support group KISA, absolutely nothing has been done to that end.

In fact, it seems that authorities are up to their old shenanigans.

“We had several cases this week when legal aliens employed on the island visited the Immigration Department to have their work visas renewed. They were told by the employees there, flat-out:

“‘Go away, go back to your country. The [EU] directive will never get implemented here’.”
The same jaw-dropping response was given to a Cypriot, who recently called the Immigration Department to find out how to extend the residence of his foreign maid whose stay was expiring.

“Seriously, can you imagine what would happen if all the foreigners received permanent residence?” the shocked Cypriot man was told.

While Polycarpou welcomed Interior Minister Andreas Christou’s recent comments that Cyprus is obligated to implement EU laws, he said there was a huge gap between public proclamations and real practices.

As far as KISA knows, no actions whatsoever have been taken to implement the EU directive.
“This discrepancy between the top level of government and immigration officials at the desk just allows people to abuse their powers. It lets them bring out their racist mentalities.”
“The Immigration Department does not even have any application forms for long-term or permanent residence. They just don’t have them.

“What does that tell you?”

Polycarpou described another ploy used by authorities. While previously work visas had an expiry date of six years, this was changed to four years once it was realised that the aforementioned EU directive would need to be enforced.

“Draw your own conclusions,” he remarked.

According to Polycarpou, immigration policies and decisions are sporadically thrashed out behind closed doors by a ministerial committee comprising the ministers of the Interior, Labour and Justice.

“These decisions are never published, so everyone’s in the dark. So when immigrants come to us for help, often we’re not up-to-date and might give them inaccurate information. That’s how bad it is.”

Polycarpou said that current immigration laws are antiquated, dating back to British colonial rule. And a draft bill taking into account the EU directive has been gathering dust in some Interior Ministry drawer for months now, he claimed.

He elaborated: “All foreigners on the island are treated as immigrants. This is the core problem, and this is what is causing the growth in illegal aliens. When people are faced with such strict legislation, they resort to illegal means. That’s what authorities don’t seem to understand.”

But there is another facet: exploitation. Polycarpou told the Mail that agents were now targeting new EU member states for cheap labour. The “trick” with EU nationals is that they do not need an entry visa, so unscrupulous Cypriot businessmen can easily get them through the airport. Moreover, citizens of new member-states tend to be unaware of their rights, making them easy prey.

“We know of one guy who brought back skilled workers from Poland. He asked them for £150 each for the first month to get them sorted, promising he’d do all the paperwork and they wouldn’t have to worry about anything. Three months later, the Poles were fired because their employer told them there was no more work.

“They’re now on the island illegally and have nowhere to stay. One of the Poles got lucky, when a Cypriot man kindly offered him shelter in his shop. Otherwise he would be sleeping on the street.”

Another young woman from Latvia had reluctantly agreed to working 18 hours a day at a restaurant.

“The contract was signed between her and the agent who hired her, not the actual employer. This is tantamount to trafficking, which is a criminal offence.”

Harsh and inflexible immigration laws are at the heart of the continuing exploitation of foreign nationals, despite the island’s obligation to enforce EU directives aimed at making life easier for them.

Directive 2003/109/EC stipulates that the legal status of third-country nationals should be approximated to that of member states’ nationals and that a person who has resided legally in a member state for a period of five years and who holds a long-term residence permit be granted a set of uniform rights which are as near as possible to those enjoyed by citizens of the European Union.

To acquire long-term resident status, third-country nationals have to prove that they have adequate resources and sickness insurance, to avoid becoming a burden for the member state. Member states may require third-country nationals to comply with integration conditions, in accordance with national law.

It is estimated that Cyprus currently has around 40,000 to 50,000 foreign workers.

Last week Interior Minister Andreas Christou dismissed allegations that foreign workers were being rounded up and deported before their four years on the island were up
At the time he said that Cyprus had some of the most liberal immigration laws in the EU, adding that other EU countries had in the meantime made work residency last two or three years, compared to Cyprus’ four.

Christou made the comments in response to a warning issued by the European Commission last Friday that it would start the process that could lead to court action against member states who failed to grant rights to long-term residents from countries outside the bloc.
The minister could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2005

[Zox]

Not only that… we have our own company there, by the Cyprus law we have right to live and work there….

Still, my wife is in jail.

18 days now !

[MR-from-NG]

Zox, sorry for what you and the kids are going through. Keep your spirits high, common sense will prevail.

ROC immigration should hang its head in shame.