Cyprus has a rather good record at passing legislation. Apart from having ratified all major racism-related international conventions, it has transposed the Race Directive affording its Equality Body powers to implement those conventions,  which go well beyond the minimum requirements of article 13 of the Race Directive. However, there is little judical application of these provisions and the equality body is too understaffed and underresourced to have any serious impact. 

Clear
  • Anti-discrimination Legislation & Implementation

    There is little awareness amongst the public and legal circles as regards anti-discriminaton laws. No case was ever brought  in Court invoking the Race Directive. The specialised body, which has no power to award compensation, has never used its limited powers to impose sanctions, preferring mediation instead. Its limited staffing also means that complaints can take years to investigate. It is nevertheless the only body investigating discrimination complaints.

    • Is racial discrimination defined in national law?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      Yes, it is in conformity with the ICERD, which was ratified in 1967 and became part of the Cypriot legal order by virtue of Law  Ν. 12/1967 entitled :The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination (Ratification) Law, as amended by Laws 11/92, 6(III)/95 and 28(III)/99. Thus the definition of racial discrimination contained in article 1(1) of the ICERD is since 1967 part of the Cypriot legal order, with superior force over national legislation.

      Another definition of racial discrimination, less wide and far reaching than the above definition of the ICERD, is found in the Equal Treatment (Racial or Ethnic Origin) Law No. 59(I) /2004 (31.3.2004) which (more or less) transposes the Racial Equality Directive. This definition replicates the wording of the Racial Equality Directive. Thus, direct discrimination is defined (in art. 2 of the said law) as “[L]ess favourable treatment afforded to a person due to his/her racial or ethnic origin than the treatment afforded to a person in a comparable situation”. Indirect discrimination is defined (again in art. 2 of the said law) as an apparently neutral provision, criterion or practice that would put persons of a specific racial or ethnic origin at a particular disadvantage compared with other persons unless the provision, criterion or practice in question is objectively justified by a legitimate aim and the means are proportionate and necessary.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Religious minorities
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Religious intolerance
      • Nationalism

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Employment - labour market
      • Housing
      • Health and social protection
      • Education
      • Media
      • Sport
      • Political discourse -parties - orgs
      • Anti-racism
      • Daily life
      • Religion
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is there a definition of discrimination on the grounds of race, ethnic origin and/or religion in national law in conformity with the EU Directives?

      Yes. The Cypriot law transposing the EU equality Directives replicates the wording of the Directives on this point

      Qualitative Info

      The national law transposing (more or less) the Racial Equality Directive (The Equal Treatment (Racial or Ethnic Origin) Law No. 59(I) /2004 (31.3.2004) ) defines and prohibits direct and indirect discrimination, as well as harassment, using the wording of the Directive. Instruction to discriminate is also prohibited, but no definition is offered. The national law is in conformity with the Directice on this point.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Religious minorities
      • Linguistic minorities
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Religious intolerance

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Employment - labour market
      • Housing
      • Health and social protection
      • Education
      • Media
      • Sport
      • Political discourse -parties - orgs
      • Anti-discrimination
      • Anti-racism
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Does the national law cover all grounds of discrimination as in the International Conventions and EU law or additional discrimination grounds?

      Yes, it also covers additional grounds.

      Qualitative Info

       

      Cyprus has ratified all major international conventions on anti-discrimination (Framework Convention on the protection of National Minorities, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, European Convention on Human Rights and its Protocol 12,  Revised European Social Charter, International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women,  Convention on the Rights of the Child, ILO Convention N°111 on Discrimination, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) and has transposed the two anti-discrimination Council Directives. Thus all grounds covered by these instruments also form part of the Cypriot legal order. Additionally, article 28 of the Constitution prohibits discrimination on the grounds of: community; race; religion; language; sex; political or other conviction; national or social descent; birth; colour; wealth; social class; or any ground whatsoever.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Religious minorities
      • Linguistic minorities
      • Asylum seekers
      • Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender
      • Persons with disability

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-semitism
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Religious intolerance
      • Inter-ethnic
      • Intra-ethnic

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Employment - labour market
      • Housing
      • Health and social protection
      • Education
      • Anti-discrimination
      • Anti-racism
      • Religion
      See other countriesSee indicator history
  • Anti-racist Crime Legislation & Implementation

    The Attorney General enjoys wide powers to decide whether to charge assailants or not and is generally reluctant to prosecute for racism related offences.  In 2005, the Court dismissed the only racism related case ever brought by the police, which rendered the  police reluctant to use the wide legislative framework to prosecute for racism related offences, preferring to bring charges with no racist elements, in order to "score a victory" in court.

    • Is there legislation against racist and hate crime?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

       The Criminal Code established a number of offences in this field. Article 138 of the Criminal Code prohibits damage to a place of worship or to an object held sacred by any class of persons with the intention of insulting the religion of any class of persons. Article 139 of the Criminal code prohibits the disturbing of religious assemblies. Article 140 prohibits trespassing on burial places with the intention of insulting the religion of any person. Article 141 prohibits the uttering of words, the making of any sound or any gesture with the intent of wounding the religious feelings of any person. Article 142 prohibits publications insulting any religion. Also, article 51A of the Criminal Code prohibits public incitement to violence amongst residents and the cultivation of a spirit of intolerance. Article 47(1)(b) of the Criminal Code prohibits incitement to hatred amongst communities or religious groups due to race, religion, colour or gender.

      Cyprus has ratified the Convention against Cybercrime by virtue of the Additional Protocol to the Convention against Cybercrime concerning the Criminalisation of Acts of Racist or Xenophobic Nature committed through Computer Systems (Ratification) Law Ν. 26(ΙΙΙ)/2004.

      The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination (Ratification) Law, Ν. 12/1967 and it subsequent amendments (Law No. 11(III)/1992 and 28(III)/1999) established offenses relating to the incitement to racial hatred, participation in organisations promoting racial discrimination, public expression of racially insulting ideas and discriminatory refusal to provide goods and services.  Article 2A of the amended law renders criminally liable those persons who incite acts which are likely to cause discrimination, hatred or violence against persons on account of their racial or ethnic origin or religion; establish or participate in organisations that promote propaganda aiming at racial discrimination; express ideas that insult persons by reason of their racial or ethnic origin or religion; refuse to supply goods or services to people by reason of their racial or ethnic origin or religion.

      On 21.10.2011, a law came into effect (Law N. 134(I)/2011) transposing the Council Framework Decision 2008/913/JHA on combating certain forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law. The law provides that the Courts must take racist and xenophobic motivation into consideration and the police are granted the right to investigate in the absence of a complaint.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Religious minorities
      • Linguistic minorities
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence
      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-semitism
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Religious intolerance
      • Inter-ethnic
      • Intra-ethnic
      • Nationalism

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Anti-racism
      • Daily life
      • Religion
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is there a legal definition of racist-hate crime?

      No definition of racist or hate crime, but the law provides definition of related terms (descent, hatred).

      Qualitative Info

      Law on Combating Certain Forms and Expressions of Racism and Xenophobia by means of Criminal Law N.134(I)/2011, transposing Council Framework Decision 2008/913/JHA provdes the following definitions (article 2):  

      “descent" means persons or groups of persons who descend from persons who could be identified by certain characteristics such as race or colour, whether or not these characteristics continue to exist today.

      “Hatred" means hatred based on race, colour, religion, descent or national or ethnic origin.

      No definition of racist crime as such is provided, but the description of offences in the above law may well be interpreted as defining racist crime.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Religious minorities
      • Linguistic minorities
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence
      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-semitism
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Religious intolerance
      • Inter-ethnic
      • Intra-ethnic
      • Nationalism

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Anti-racism
      • Daily life
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is there a legal definition of hate speech?

      No there is no legal definition. This has to be inferred from the description of offences.

      Qualitative Info

      The various legislative instruments providing for race-related offenses do not provide a definition of this term. However, most of these provisions describe offences which are clearly hate speech, even though the particular term (hate speech) is not used.  Thus the Criminal Code criminalises  "the uttering of words, the making of any sound or any gesture with the intent of wounding the religious feelings of any person" (article 141) and prohibits publications insulting any religion (article 142).  SImilarly, the Law ratifying the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination prohibits the incitement to racial hatred and the public expression of racially insulting ideas but does not describe these as hate speech.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Religious minorities
      • Linguistic minorities
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Religious intolerance
      • Inter-ethnic
      • Intra-ethnic
      • Nationalism

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Education
      • Media
      • Political discourse -parties - orgs
      • Daily life
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Are there legal definitions of racist incident and racist violence?

      Not as such.

      Qualitative Info

      The police does not have a definition of what constitutes a racist crime per se. It has a code describing the elements which an incident must have in order to be recorded in its mechanism for recording racial incidents. According to the police action plan of 2004, which was the basis for setting up the police’s recording mechanism, an incident will be defined as racially motivated if it is perceived to be racially motivated by the victim, by a member of the Cyprus Police, by a person who was present and who witnessed the incident or by a person acting on behalf of the victim. According to information supplied by the police to the RAXEN NFP in 2008, the aforesaid recording mechanism did not record complaints of racist incidents, but only offences with a racist motive. This represents a departure from the original policy of recording racist incidents, as it was originally conceived in 2004. In February 2008 the mandate of the Police Bureau for Combating Discrimination was extended following the Equality body’s recommendation, to cover and record not only racial offenses but also racial incidents (as defined inter alia by the victim). An Equality body self-initiated investigation in 2009 (Report ref. ΑΚR/ΑΥΤ 2/2008, dated 26.01.2009) revealed that the unit does not have the mechanism in place to record racial incidents; only a small number of racial offenses were recorded. These do not necessarily become the subject of prosecution, as the Attorney General's office is reluctant to pursue a case whose success is not guaranteed.

       

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Religious minorities
      • Linguistic minorities
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence
      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-semitism
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Religious intolerance
      • Inter-ethnic
      • Intra-ethnic
      • Nationalism

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Anti-racism
      • Daily life
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is there a legislation penalising, or prohibiting the establishment of, organisations which promote, incite, propagate or organize racial discrimination against an individual or group of individuals? Is membership of such organisations treated as an offence under the law?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

       The law ratifying the ICERD (Laws amending the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination (Ratification) Law, No. 11(III)/1992 and 28(III)/1999)  Article 2A, renders criminally liable those persons who establish or participate in organisations that promote propaganda aiming at racial discrimination.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Religious minorities
      • Linguistic minorities
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence
      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-semitism
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Religious intolerance
      • Inter-ethnic
      • Intra-ethnic
      • Nationalism

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Political discourse -parties - orgs
      • Anti-racism
      • Daily life
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is there an independent assessment of the impact of anti-racist legislation and its application in practice?

      No, except a brief reference in the last ECRI report of 2011.

      Qualitative Info

      ECRI’s fourth country report on racism and intolerance in Cyprus published on 31.05.2011 mentions that:

      • - Anti-racist legislative provisions are rarely applied; 
      • -There have been no prosecutions for racist crime and that the tendency is for racist incidents to be prosecuted as offences not invovling a racist motive;
      • -There is no system of recording Court decisions,as neither the Attorney General’s Office nor the Courts collect data on cases with racial elements. Court cases are recorded by the name of the case and the case number, not by the subject, which renders monitoring of the implementation of the law impossible.
      • - Public prosecutors and judges do not receive any special training in the field of racism and racial discrimination

       

       

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Religious minorities
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence
      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-semitism
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Religious intolerance
      • Inter-ethnic
      • Intra-ethnic
      • Nationalism

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Political discourse -parties - orgs
      • Anti-racism
      • Daily life

      External Url http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/ecri/Country-by-country/Cyprus/CYP-CbC-IV-2011-020-ENG.pdf

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is there an estimate or evidence that hate crime cases/incidents are under-reported disproportionately in relation to other crimes?

      Yes, there are references to underreporting in Equality Body and ECRI reports.

      Qualitative Info

       Although there is no statistical method of comparing the reliability of crime data, the low number of racist crimes recorded by the police is a source of concern for both ECRI and the Equality Body.

      In its 2011, ECRI refers to the recent increase in racist violence, attributed to a rise in extremist groups along with a reluctance on the part of the authorities to prosecute persons for offences related to racism or xenophobia, thus creating an atmosphere of impunity and demonstrating a lack of will to combat racism and racial discrimination (page 27 of the 2011 country report on Cyprus).  
      In a report compiled after a racist attack against a black student in a school (Report Ref. ΑΚR 241/2008, dated 10.03.2009) the Equality body criticized the attitude of the police who failed to take an active stand against racism in spite of the victim’s unequivocal position that she wanted the case to go to Court, and stated that the lack of commitment of the police against racism will lead not only to the intensification of the phenomenon of racism but also to the vulnerable groups losing faith in the police and to the phenomenon of underreporting. The report further criticised the attitude of the teachers who refused to see a racist motive in the attack, attributing it to youth delinquency and concluded that as long as educationalists do not take an active stand against racism and prefer the oversimplified interpretation of youth delinquency and as long as incidents are not addressed and handled and assailants go unpunished, the phenomenon of racist violence will be reproduced, multiplied and underreported. This report, as well as several other Equality body reports (Ref. ΑΚR 37/2005, dated 11.07.2005; Ref. ΑΚR 7/2006, dated 01.08.2007; and Ref. ΑΚR/ΑΥΤ 2/2008, dated 26.01.2009) criticised the inadequacy of the system of recording racist incidents maintained by the police which clearly underestimates the problem of racist crime.
      In January 2009 the equality body carried out a self-initiated investigation (Equality body report Ref. ΑΚΡ/ΑΥΤ 2/2008, dated 26.01.2009) into the handling by the police of a racial attack against migrants and found that the police demonstrated reluctance in prosecuting racist crime and in recording racial incidents. The police had informed the Equality body that in the particular case under investigation there did not seem to be a prima facie case of offenses in violation of the anti-discrimination legislation, a view which was criticised in the Equality body report. The Equality body concluded that the incident under investigation was not an isolated one and that there is an increase in the number and intensity of racial incidents. It notes that previous investigations have also shown the failure of the police to prosecute racial incidents, adding that although the legislative framework appears to be adequate, the authorities stubbornly refuse to prosecute racial incidents reported by victims or by NGOs or appearing in the media. The report notes with concern the fact that in the incident under investigation the migrants attacked did not file a complaint with the police, which indicates that vulnerable groups feel discouraged from reporting racial incidents for fear of deportation or for lack of trust in the police. The report added that the underreporting phenomenon shows a general failure of the existing system to record the real picture of racism in Cyprus.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Religious minorities
      • Linguistic minorities
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence
      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-semitism
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Religious intolerance
      • Inter-ethnic
      • Intra-ethnic
      • Nationalism

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Political discourse -parties - orgs
      • Anti-racism
      • Daily life

      External Url http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/ecri/Country-by-country/Cyprus/CYP-CbC-IV-2011-020-ENG.pdf

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is policing reported to be adequate in terms of combating racist violence/hate crime effectively?

      No. There are Equality body reports criticising the police for failing to recognise racist motive, for reluctance to investigate allegations of racist motive and for failing to keep adequate records of racist crime.

      Qualitative Info

       A number of Equality body decisions over the past few years criticised the monitoring and handling of racist violence complaints by the police. An Equality body report dated 10.03.2009 (Reference number ΑΚR 241/2008) on the racist attack against a black pupil by other pupils at a school game, recorded that the police failed to take measures to prosecute the perpetrators. The report also criticised the attitude of the police who failed to take an active stand against racism. In spite of the victim’s unequivocal position that she wanted the case to go to Court, no arrests were made and no charges were brought against anyone. The police initially refused even to accept a statement from the victim’s father, but subsequently agreed to do so following the Equality body’s intervention.

      In January 2009 the Equality body examined the handling by the police of a racial attack against migrants and found that the police demonstrated reluctance in prosecuting racist crime and in recording racial incidents. The perpetrators were charged with offenses related to common assault, malicious damage to property and riot, which do not involve racial motive (Equality body report Ref. ΑΚΡ/ΑΥΤ 2/2008, dated 26.01.2009).

      In 2011 the Equality body carried out another self initiated investigation into racial violence incidents and their handling by the police (Ref. ΑΚR/ΑΥΤ. 2/2011 dated 02.11.2011) following a racist attack against an unsuspecting foreign man in the street by an organised group. The report highlights the weaknesses in the reporting system in Cyprus, which recorded 3 hate crimes in 2007 and none for 2008 and 2009, and deplored the fact that no charges were pressed against anybody in respect of any racial incidents. The report calls on the police to improve and upgrade the system of recording racial incidents in order to adequately comprehend the nature and extent of racist violence so as to better inform policy initiatives; it also calls upon the police to use the rich legislative framework on combating racist violence in order to prosecute and punish perpetrators.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence
      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-semitism
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Religious intolerance
      • Inter-ethnic
      • Intra-ethnic
      • Nationalism

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Political discourse -parties - orgs

      External Url http://www.no-discrimination.ombudsman.gov.cy/ektheseis-akr

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is the judiciary reported to be adequately and effectively combating racist violence/hate crime?

      No

      Qualitative Info

       A rather restrictive approach followed by the Courts in Cyprus renders the securing of convictions a rather difficult task. In the 2005 case of an ultra nationalist person attacking Turkish Cypriots in public, the Court acquitted the perpetrator for lack of evidence, as the victim himself was found by the Court to be a non-credible witness. In 2006 the Court convicted a Cypriot of African descent for assaulting a group of youth when he chased them away from his home, ignoring the fact that the youth had been harassing him with racial abuse for months before the man chased them away from his house. In 2008 the Supreme Court examined an application by Turkish Cypriot relatives of persons missing following an incident of ethnic violence at the village of Tochni in 1974. The applicants, who are relatives of five Turkish Cypriots missing as a result of an incident of a massacre which took place in August 1974 at the village of Tochni, when armed Greek Cypriots entered the village and abducted a large number of Turkish Cypriot inhabitants of the village, who were never seen since. The applicants sought a Court declaration stating that the state did not do everything necessary to investigate what happened to their missing relatives, to locate their remains and to bring the guilty persons to trial. The Supreme Court found that the review of governmental acts was not within the mandate given to the Supreme Court under article 146 of the Constitution (which deals with the review of administrative acts) and therefore it lacked jurisdiction to try the case (Ozalp Behic alias Ozalp Saricaoglu, Ece Behic alias Ece Kasif alias Firtinaer, Suzan Behic alias Suzan Saricaoglu v. The Republic of Cyprus through the Attorney General, the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Interior, Supreme Court of Cyprus, Case no. 589/2006 (29.05.2008))

      ECRI (Fourth Report on Cyprus published in 2011) questions whether those involved in the criminal justice system have thorough knowledge of the provisions in force against racism and racial discrimination, as a result of the fact that criminal law provisions are rarely applied, and recommends training and awareness-raising for law enforcement officials, prosecutors and judges. It further notes that the Attorney General’s discretion to prosecute or not impedes the implementation of anti-racist legislation.

       

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • In the context of hate crime, is racist motivation treated as an aggravating circumstance?

      Yes

      Qualitative Info

      Law on Combating Certain Forms and Expressions of Racism and Xenophobia by means of Criminal Law N.134(I)/2011 which transposes Council Framework Decision 2008/913/JHA, article 8, casts an obligation on the Courts to treat racist and xenophobc motivation as an aggravating factor in sentencing. The law only came into force in October 2011 and no cases have yet been presented to Court invoking its provisions.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence
      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-semitism
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Religious intolerance
      • Inter-ethnic
      • Intra-ethnic
      • Nationalism

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Political discourse -parties - orgs
      • Anti-racism
      • Daily life
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • If there is a legal provision on racist motivation as an aggravating factor, how often is it applied? What kind of sanctions/penalties are issued?

      The provision in question has never been applied so far.

      Qualitative Info

      The law containing the provision that racist motivation is an aggravating factor (Law on Combating Certain Forms and Expressions of Racism and Xenophobia by means of Criminal Law N.134(I)/2011) was enacted in October 2011 and has never been applied so far. Very few cases containing a racial element were ever examined by Cypriot courts, as the prosecution authorities tend to prosecute for offenses unrelated to racism or not to prosecute at all.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence
      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-semitism
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Religious intolerance
      • Inter-ethnic
      • Intra-ethnic
      • Nationalism

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Political discourse -parties - orgs
      • Anti-racism
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Does national legislation provide specific sanctions against public servants reported as perpetrators of racist violence/hate crime?

      No.

      Qualitative Info

      There is no specfic legislative provision to this effect. However, there is a procedure foreseen in the Constitution for setting aside a decision or act of the administration when this is, inter alia, discriminatory.  Article 146 of the Constitution provides for the right to seek annulemnt of a decision, an act or omission of any organ, authority or person, exercising any executive or administrative authority if this is contrary to any of the provisions of the Constitution or of any law or is made in excess or in abuse of powers vested in such organ or authority or person. The application for such annulemnt may be made by any person whose any existing legitimate interest, which he has either as a person or by virtue of being a member of a Community, is adversely and directly affected by such decision or act or omission. This provision has been widely used by persons alleging acts of discrimination on the part of the administration.

      Case law has established that the circumstances of the victim (economic /social status etc) may be taken into account as reflective of the degree of the perproterator's anti-social behaviour (Pittas v. the Republic 1973,2 J.S.C. 200) this rule can be interpreted as covering persons in a position of authority vis-a-vis the victim.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Religious intolerance
      • Inter-ethnic
      • Intra-ethnic

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Health and social protection
      • Education

      External Url http://www.law.gov.cy/law/lawoffice.nsf/All/A04C6837DF68968CC22575CB0042E60C/$file/%CE%A4%CE%BF%20%CE%A3%CF%8D%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%B1%CE%B3%CE%BC%CE%B1%20%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%82%20%CE%9A%CF%85%CF%80%CF%81%CE%B9%CE%B1%CE%BA%CE%AE%CF%82%20%CE%94%CE%B7%CE%BC%CE%BF%...

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Have public servants been reported as being perpetrators of racist violence/hate crime?

      No

      Data n/a

      Qualitative Info

      No, although police officers and particularly immigration officers have been repeatedly criticised by both ECRI and the equality body for heavy handedness against migrants and for arbitrary and unlawful actions that lead to discrimination against migrants

      Groups affected/interested

      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence
      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-semitism
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Religious intolerance
      • Inter-ethnic
      • Intra-ethnic
      • Nationalism

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Employment - labour market
      See other countriesSee indicator history
  • Political Parties-organisations - Racist & Xenophobic Discourse

    Recent years have seen a sharp rise in far right and neo-nazi groups and ideologies. There are no measures in place to address this phenomenon. One of these groups (ELAM) despite being connected to many racial violence incidents, won 0.22% in the 2009 European Parliamentary elections and 1,08%  in the national parliamentary elections of 2011. Politicians from all mainstream right wing parties also engage regularly in racist anti-immigrant discourse.

     

    • Are there political parties that express racist or xenophobic sentiments/discourse in the form of hate speech or promote an anti-migrant and/or anti-minority agenda?

      Yes

      Represented in government/parliament? No

      Qualitative Info

      ELAM, an outrightly racist and xenophobic party won 4,354 votes in the parliamentary elections of 2011, representing 1,081% of the total votes. It did not elect an MP but its results mark a significant increase from the 2009 elections for the members of the European Parliament, where it won 663 votes. It is considered by all political forces as a pariah but its increasing constituency is a cause for alarm. Almost all racial attacks conducted in Cyprus in recent years are attributed to ELAM, whose members  march in the streets in black clothing and in military formation.

      EVROKO, a less marginal and more mainstream political force than ELAM, occasionally expresses itself in a xenophobic manner and its candidates often come forward with an anti-immigration agenda, but has never been connected with racist crime. In the parliamentary elections of 2011 it won 15,11 of the votes, representing 3,88%, a decrease of 1,91% from its results in the previous parliamentary elections.  

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Religious minorities
      • Linguistic minorities
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence
      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-semitism
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Religious intolerance
      • Inter-ethnic
      • Intra-ethnic
      • Nationalism

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Political discourse -parties - orgs
      • Anti-racism
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Parties that express xenophobic discourse in the form of hate speech or promote an anti-migrant and/or anti-minority agenda

      yes

      Parties ELAM Size - Membership Unknown Electoral power 1,08%

      Qualitative Info

        

      In the 2009 European Parliamentary elections, a neo-Nazi type of party called ‘Ethniko Laiko Metopo’ (ELAM) founded in 2008 contested the elections and received 663 votes (0.22 percent); at the time it received no media coverage. The main discussion lines of ELAM produced the usual racist slogans contained in the Greek neo-Nazi and extreme Right papers and magazines, claiming that it is the only party that speaks for the “liberation of our enslaved lands, the ending of the privileges of the ‘greedy’ Turkish-Cypriots and for a Europe of Nations and traditions which belongs to the real Europeans and not to the ‘third-worldly’ [backward] illegal immigrants”. In the national parliamentary elections of 2011 ELAM received 4,354 votes, scoring 1,08% of the votes, the largest percentage amongst the parties that did not elect an MP. This, in spite the general admission that ELAM is behind several racist attacks against unsuspecting migrants and Turkish Cypriots and taking place in public space under broad daylight. ELAM describes its ideology as "popular and social nationalism" and promoting Greek nationalism. The mainsteam newspaper Cyprus Mail describes ELAM as an "extreme right wing party", as "ultra right-wing". An NGO called the Antifascist Initiative uses the words "far right, nationalist and racist organisation" and "neo-Nazi gang".

      ELAM has been the subject of controversy in the Cypriot media and the broader  political scene, as it has been repeatedly connected with promoting racism and being involved in acts of racial violence. In July 2010 it was reported that after the condemnation ceremonies against the Turkish invasion of 1974 on the 20th of July, people with ELAM t-shirts had attacked a Nigerian man in Makariou street in Nicosia. On December 28, 2010, ELAM organized a march against Turkish Cypriots and illegal migrants. On the 19th of March in 2011, eyewitnesses reported that members of ELAM beat up a lottery seller in Nicosia’s central high street, after a disagreement over political views. However, ELAM has officially opposed its association with the violent incidents, noticing that no ELAM member has been convicted for the specific crimes, further accusing the media for intentionally connecting ELAM with the racial incidents. Its manifesto proclaims that the movement promotes a strict anti-federalist solution concerning the Cyprus problem, a zero-toleration anti-immigration policy and Hellenistic education.


       

       

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence
      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-semitism
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Religious intolerance
      • Inter-ethnic
      • Intra-ethnic
      • Nationalism

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Political discourse -parties - orgs
      • Anti-racism

      External Url http://elamcy.com/; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELAM_(Cyprus); Http://ethnikolaikometwpo.blogspot.com/2009/06/2009.html

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is hate speech/racist-xenophobic discourse a wider, more 'mainstream', phenomenon in the political sphere?

      yes

      Qualitative Info

       

      There is a neo-racism connected to the rise of the Far Right  and discourses of hatred. Even though traditionally in Cyprus there was no typical far right / xenophobic populist or Neo-Nazi party, focusing for instance on anti-immigration populism or anti-Semitic politics, this is now beginning to change as these signifiers are regularly being articulated in the mainstream press and media. In the 2009 European Parliamentary elections, a neo-Nazi type of party called ELAM (the initials stand for ‘Ethniko Laiko Metopo’ which means National Popular Front) contested the elections and received 663 votes (0.22 percent); at the time it received no media coverage. The main discussion lines of ELAM produced the usual racist slogans contained in the Greek neo-Nazi and extreme Right papers and magazines, claiming that it is the only party that speaks for the “liberation of our enslaved lands, the ending of the privileges of the ‘greedy’ Turkish-Cypriots and for a Europe of Nations and traditions which belongs to the real Europeans and not to the ‘third-worldly’ [backward] illegal immigrants” (http://ethnikolaikometwpo.blogspot.com/2009/06/2009.html). In the national parliamentary elections of 2011 ELAM received 4,354 votes, scoring 1,08% of the votes, the largest percentage amongst the parties that did not elect an MP. This, in spite the general admission that ELAM is behind several racist attacks against unsuspecting migrants and Turkish Cypriots and taking place in public space under broad daylight. The recently emerging organised racist lobby, with an anti-immigration and xenophobic agenda, has found affiliates in many mainstream political parties and in media outlets. There is a number of publications and regular media discourses about the imminent and grave ‘dangers’ from ‘Afro-asiatic’, ‘Muslim-Asiatic’ and ‘Turko-asiatic’ hordes that are ready to invade Cyprus as part of a plan orchestrated by Turkey to change the demographic character of Cyprus through illegal immigration and leaflets with such content are also widely circulated by recently emerging far right groups. Studies have shown that there are regular media discourses employing the usual racist frames comparable to those of other EU countries  such as ethno-nationalistic, conflict-criminality, welfare-chauvinist, job-stealing, ‘threat to liberal norms’, biological racism  and national specific frames. Particular individuals within various political parties, including centre-right mainstream parties, various newly-formed committees for the ‘salvation of Cyprus’, as well as neo-Nazi groups argue that asylum-seekers, migrants and Turkish-Cypriots are abusing the Cypriot welfare benefit system ripping the “golden benefits” of “the Cypriot paradise”  and making Cypriots “second class citizens” (terms were used by the official of EVROKO  and former Senior Labour Officer in charge of Migration, A. Morfitis (2010) ‘Οι αλλοδαποί και οι ντόπιοι’ in H Σημερινή (23.07.2010);  C. Rotsas (2010) ‘Ο Μεγάλος Αυθέντης’, in  H Σημερινή  (23.07.2010)  http://www.sigmalive.com/simerini/analiseis/other/295061)  They criticise the Minister of Interior for his ‘liberal’ migration policy (http://www.evropaikokomma.org/main/1,0,837,166-) sometimes even going as far as labelling him as an agent who conspires to distort the population make-up and de-Hellenize Cyprus. Asylum-seekers, refugees and migrants are described as “invaders”, “a fifth column against the Greek element of free Cyprus”, claiming that “Hellenism is threatened from asylum-seekers as it is threatened by colonists/settlers in the Turkish occupied territories” (former DESY MP Christos Rotsas (2010) Ο Μεγάλος Αυθέντης”, H Σημερινή, 23.07.2010  http://www.sigmalive.com/simerini/analiseis/other/295061). Such discourses aired regularly by the media are creating a climate which is conducive to racial hatred. Such is the influence and power of the media that when the Equality Body embarked upon the drafting of a Code of Conduct on how ethnic communities and immigrants should be portrayed in the media, the result was a watered-down non-binding set of guidelines and an extensive explanation of why ‘freedom of the press’ should not be ‘interfered with’ (See http://www.no-discrimination.ombudsman.gov.cy/sites/default/files/kateythintiries_arhes_MME_kata_ratsismoy_xenofovias_diakriseon.pdf for the Equality Body’s Guidelines for the Media in Greek and http://www.non-discrimination.net/content/media/CY-52-EB%20media%20guidelines.pdf for an English summary).

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence
      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Nationalism

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Employment - labour market
      • Health and social protection
      • Culture
      • Anti-racism

      External Url http://ethnikolaikometwpo.blogspot.com/2009/06/2009.html; http://www.evropaikokomma.org/main;http://www.sigmalive.com/simerini/analiseis/other/295061;http://www.no-discrimination.ombudsman.gov.cy/sites/default/files/kateythintiries_arhes_MME_kata_ratsism

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Nation-wide organisations that express racist or xenophobic sentiments/discourse in the form either of hate speech or promote an anti-migrant and/or anti-minority agenda

      yes

      Organisations ELAM, KEA, EFEN, Movement for the Salvation of Cyprus, Movement for the European Future of Cyprus Size - Membership Unknown

      Qualitative Info

       

      The group receiving more publicity out of all far right groups is Ε.LΑ.Μ. (Ethnico Laiko Metopo-English: National Popular Front) [http://elamcy.com], perhaps due to the controversy it caused when it decided to contest the 2009 elections for the European Parliament and then the 2011 parliamentary elections in Cyprus, whilst at the same time linking itself with clearly fascist ideology and with racist crime. Although it failed to elect a member of parliament in either elections, ELAM received the largest percentage (1.08%) out of all parties that contested the election but did not elect a representative. Commentators at the time suggested that had ELAM elected a representative in parliament, it would have been forced to become more political and less criminal, whilst others suggested that had it elected a representative its fascist views would inevitably enter the political mainstream and be given prominence and publicity. ELAM members regularly parade the streets in black clothing and military formation, in traditional fascist tradition, chanting nationalist songs and smashing journalists’ cameras. Most of racial attacks carried out by or attributed by ELAM against migrants and Turkish Cypriots, are taking place in broad daylight and in front of dozens of witnesses. The attribution of racial attacks to ELAM is resented by another far right, KEA (Kinima Ellinikis Antistasis – in English: Movement of Greek Resistance) [http://antistasi.org] which opposes ELAM and claims a piece of the pie, claiming that ELAM appropriates the activities of KEA (such as the attack against an anti-racist festival in November 2010 and the stabbing of Turkish Cypriot) trying to make them appear as ELAM’s own activities. KEA is a self declared nationalist group which claims no links with Greece, but believes in union with Greece. They believe in ‘guidance of the Nation by the leading minority of the select few, the spiritual aristocracy of the Nation’. Like all other far right groups, they are focused on preventing a federal solution for Cyprus, on anti-Turkishness and on anti-immigration. They appear to be working in collaboration with Ε.F.Ε.Ν. (Εthniki Foni Ellinopsychon Neon- in English: National Voice of Greek-Souled Youth) [http://efen-lar.blogspot.com] which is active at the level of schools and has also been linked to racist crime. An attack against Turkish Cypriot students at a school in Nicosia in 2006 by a group of hooded youth holding bars, which received a lot of publicity as the first organized attack against Turkish Cypriots in decades, was attributed to EFEN. In 2007 two more far right groups emerged with a strong anti-immigration agenda, claiming that migrant flows into Cyprus were orchestrated by Turkey in an effort to change the demographic character: The “Movement of the Salvation of Cyprus” [Κίνηση για τη Σωτηρία της Κύπρου] and the “Movement for the European Future of Cyprus” [Την Κίνηση για το Ευρωπαϊκό Μέλλον της Κύπρου] both of which initially tried to distance themselves from the marginal fascist groups but subsequently joined ranks with some of them to stage mass anti-immigrant demonstrations in 2010 and 2011. These groups involve older and more prominent persons including various public figures such as a former ECHR judge, a former military officer and politicians from mainstream political parties. An attack against an anti-racist festival in November 2010, which took place in the process of an anti-immigrant march staged by these groups was headed by Zaharias Koulias, a MP of the centrist party DIKO who regularly expresses strong anti-immigrant sentiments. The list would not be complete without reference to the right wing football clubs such as APOEL and Apollonas, which are inter-connected with the fascist groups and have been repeatedly fined for racist behavior at the football pitch (see Trimikliniotis and Demetriou, Preventing racism, xenophobia and related intolerance in sport across the European Union, FRA RAXEN Thematic Study on Cyprus, March 2009)

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Ethnic minorities

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence
      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Political discourse -parties - orgs
      • Anti-racism

      External Url http://elamcy.com; http://antistasi.org; http://efen-lar.blogspot.com

      See other countriesSee indicator history
  • Anti-racist Policies & Organisations

    There are a number of NGOs with an anti-racist agenda, but the group exclusively active in anti-racism is KISA. Its events are supported by actors from the broader left-wing movement, especially when these involve street clashes with the fascist groups. KISA receives a lot of n negative publicity from the nationalist press and has had little impact in the formulation of anti-racist policies. Its members are often targeted and victimised by the police.

     

    • Has the national government developed policies/programmes aimed at combating racism and related ideologies? Have these policies/programmes been implemented and in whatway?

      No.

      Qualitative Info

      There are no such programs in place. The closest thing available is a national action plan on the integration of migrants, which is however focused on facilitating the migrants to integrate, through language and other training, rather than condition the host population to accept and / or tolerate migrants.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Asylum seekers
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Has regional/local governance made a significant attempt at combating racism and related ideologies?

      No

      Qualitative Info

      There have been no programs or initiatives at the regional level. The former mayor of Nicosia Eleni Mavrou who came from the ranks of the left-wing AKEL often participated in anti-racist panels and made the municipality's facilities ready available for anti-racist and anti-nationalist events but led no concerted effort in combating racism. The mayor of Limassol who also comes from the ranks of AKEL has also participated in anti-racist events and assists NGOs with anti-racist initiatives but again has not developed a program to combat racism.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence
      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-semitism
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Anti-racism
      • Integration - social cohesion
      • Daily life
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • In your country are there any non governmental organisations whose principal objectives relate to opposing/undermining racism and racist activity?

      Yes

      Qualitative Info

      Although there are a number of NGOs with an anti-racist agenda, such as the Future Worlds Centre, Symfiliosi and the Mediterranean Institute for Gender Studies, the bi-communal teachers' platform (the list is not exhaustive) the group with the most activist anti-racist activity is KISA [www.kisa.org.cy]. Currently it is the only group whose sole and exclusive purpose is to support migrants and intervene with public opinion in order to increase awareness-raising and combat racism. Because of its current status as the only activist anti-racist NGO, its events are supported and particiapted by a wide range of actors and NGOs from the broader anti-racist and left-wing grassroots movement, especially when these involve events where a clash with the fascist groups cannot be excluded. KISA receives a lot of publicity in the media especially as anti-immigrant sentiments and tensions are rising with the economic crisis.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence
      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Anti-racism
      • Integration - social cohesion
      • Daily life

      External Url www.kisa.org.cy

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Non governmental organisations whose principal objectives relate to opposing/undermining racism and racist activity

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      KISA (www.kisa.org.cy) is the only organisation exclusively concerned with supporting migrants victims of discrimination or violence. In recent months, budgetary restrictions have forced them to cut down on services provided, but it still remains the only NGO that can support victims of racial violence. Its work spans the whole of Cyprus, the small size of which renders the differentiation between national/local rather meaningless. Its activities include interventions with the employer (if the issue concerns employment), the police and the Ministry of Interior and regularly publishes press releases and files complaints with the Equality Body on issues concerning racist or discriminatory practices. They also have a regular street presence, with street protests and an annual anti-racist festival. In 2010 the said festival was attacked by fascist groups who were participating in a nearby anti-immigration march. Rather than pressing charges against the assailants, the police pressed charges against KISA's president for breach of peace. The trial is still continuing. This is not the first time that members of KISA's governing board are sued by the authorities, the first one concerning allegedly unlawful street collection of money. KISA believes that the lawsuits are used by the authorities in an effort to undermine and curtail KISA' pro-immigrant activity.

      Other organisations provide support to migrant victims but not as their exclusive aim. The Future Worlds Centre (www.futureworldscenter.org/) opreates on a UNHCR grant and supports asylum seekers with their asylum application  but will also intervene with the police and the authorities whenever an asylum seeker falls victim to racist or discriminatory practices. Future Worlds also runs a centre for the rehabilitation of the victims of torture.

      Symifiosi (www.symfiliosi.org) is more research-based and its research focus is anti-racism and immigration. It will also assist victims of racial violence applying to it for assistance (by filing complaints to the equality body, police, Interior Ministry etc), although it does not run support services. Same applies to MIGS (the initials stand for Mediterraean Institute for Gender Studies -  http://www.medinstgenderstudies.org) whose mandate is restricted to women including migrant women. They have more invovlement in  conferencing, awareness raising  and research rather than in victim support.

      There is no NGO supporting Turkish Cypriot victims of racial violence. Victim support is generally an area that has little or no funding, as state funding is meagre and even EU funds are geared towards integration activities (EQUAL, ERF, INTI etc) rather than victim support. 

       

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence
      • Nationalism

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Anti-racism

      External Url www.kisa.org.cy, www.futureworldscenter.org, www.symfiliosi.org, http://www.medinstgenderstudies.org,

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Are there examples of anti-racist anti-discrimination organisations' activity having a positive impact on anti-racist policies?

      Not in a major way.

      Qualitative Info

      NGO mobilisations may have had the result of the Minister of Interior releasing persons detained for immigration related offenses. There could of course be other reasons for the release of these persons, such as pressure from the Council of Europe (CPT, ECRI) whose reports express concern over long detentions of persons arrested for immigration related offenses (unlawful stay, unlawful work) in unsuitable detention centres. NGO interventions have brought about the re-opening of the files of asylum seekers whose asylum applications were rejected because of the authorities' wrong assumption that they had changed address without informing the asylum unit. Generally speaking, NGO mobiliations have not had a significant impact on policies and in fact there are examples of such mobilisations having had a negative impact, in the form of the singling out of the migrants participating in the mobilisations who are then deported by the authorities. Interventions by the Ombudsman and by trade unions have had more significant impact as the relative strength of these institutions is much greater than that of NGOs.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Asylum seekers

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Political participation
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is there a direct participation of anti-racist, anti-discrimination and victim group organisations in consultation and development, promotion, implementation of anti-racist and anti-discrimination law and/or policies?

      Yes, but their views are not necessarily taken into account.

      Qualitative Info

      A process of consultation exists at the level of some of the parliamentary committees when bills relating to migration and asylum are discussed. The consultation would normally involve KISA, an activist NGO supporting migrants, and a few other NGOs with a research or other interest in the field. However, they are usually given 3 minutes to express their views, which are usually ignored in any case. For the purposes of transposing the anti-discrimination Council Directives, NGOs were given 24 hours to study a large volume of documents and express thier views, because of the deadline for transposition and the delay in preparing the drafts of the laws. The NGO views were not taken into consideration. The process of consultation involves also other stakeholders, such as the equality body (=the ombudsman), the trade unions, UNCHR (when asylum issues are discussed), the Law Commissioner etc. Their views are usually considered more seriously.

       A process of consultation also exists at the level of some ministries when discussing the adoption of national action plans. Again the views of NGOs are viewed as marginal. In some areas (domestic violence, sex trafficking) there are 'multithematic committees' consisting of NGOs and governmental actors set up in order to provide consultation on various policy issues, however NGOs report that these committees are hardly operational, especially in the case of sex trafficking.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Employment - labour market
      • Housing
      • Health and social protection
      • Education
      • Culture
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Are there NGOs - other civil society organisations supporting victims of discrimination on the grounds of race, ethnic origin and religion in court?

      Yes

      Qualitative Info

       

      KISA (www.kisa.org.cy) is the only organisation exclusively concerned with supporting migrants victims of discrimination or violence. In recent months, budgetary restrictions have forced them to cut down on services provided, but it still remains the only NGO that can support victims of racial violence. Its work spans the whole of Cyprus, the small size of which renders the differentiation between national/local rather meaningless. Its activities include interventions with the employer (if the issue concerns employment), the police and the Ministry of Interior and regularly publishes press releases and files complaints with the Equality Body on issues concerning racist or discriminatory practices. They also have a regular street presence, with street protests and an annual anti-racist festival. In 2010 the said festival was attacked by ultra nationalist and Neo-Nazi  groups who were participating in a nearby anti-immigration march. Rather than pressing charges against the assailants, the police pressed charges against KISA's executive director for breach of peace. The trial is still continuing. This is not the first time that members of KISA's governing board are sued by the authorities, the first one concerning allegedly unlawful fundraising for a migrant domestic worker in need for an urgent operation. KISA believes that the lawsuits are used by the authorities in an effort to undermine and curtail KISA' pro-immigrant activity.

      Neither KISA nor any other NGO in Cyprus have the capacity of representing victims in Court. This would require having amongst their ranks a licensed lawyer who can appear in Court. There is no funding for NGOs for such a possibility. Even the equality body does not have the capacity/mandate to represent victims in Court. Victims who want to take their case to Court are usually left to fend for themselves (hence the fact that there have not been any Court decisions in the field of racial/ethnic discrimination so far; some can benefit from the provisions of the Legal Aid law which are however rather restrictive and limited.

       

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Muslims
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Employment - labour market
      See other countriesSee indicator history
  • Policing - Law Enforcement - Justice

    Since 2009 the police offers anti-racist training for its members but it is not sufficiently far reaching. The police and the media regularly stereotype migrants as criminals. Racial profiling is not prohibited and is regularly practiced by the police, as part of its operations to hunt down irregulars. The non-policing of the areas inhabited by migrants leads to increased criminal activity by far right groups which attack migrants. 

    • Does the training of the police force incorporate anti-racism or cultural sensitivity?

      yes

      Qualitative Info

      Since 2009 the Police Academy has introduced as part of the basic training of the Police cadets the training topic “Policing a Multicultural society”, a subject which is one of the subjects of compulsory examination cadets need to pass. However, it is only in extreme cases that Police cadets fail to pass such tests, which are seen by most as a formality. The Police Academy also introduced the same training topic “Policing a Multicultural society” for all its police officers around the country as part of the professional conduct re-training program; this is a two and a half hour training which includes basic understanding of how Cyprus has become a multicultural society over the years, the socio-legal framework for dealing with racially motivated crime and how to record it; the changing scope of policing in a society in transformation; migration, inclusion, integration and understanding on how to police various ethnic and minority groups in society; statistics on crime and victims and good practices that would enhance better policing in a multicultural society. The training syllabus covers mainly racist or religiously motivated crime.

      The main problems as far the effectiveness of the training are the following: (a) it is a one off training and has no follow up: one training session cannot undo the deep-rooted prejudices and attitudes which can only change via sustained training, practice, encounter with peers with equal status from other ethnic groups and accountability for any racially-related or other hate crime related practices; (b) anti-discrimination needs to be integrated in routine and everyday practice in all areas of police life and action. The equality body has made similar recommendations, including human rights and anti-discrimination training as well as recruitment of officers from migrant communities (Report for Case No AKP 1/2007). The relevant report of the equality body draws on the UK Metropolitan police practices, which has introduced the above plus a diversity test for all cadets. 

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Are there police professional associations thatpromote and endorse anti-migrant/anti-minority agendas and discourse?

      No.

      Qualitative Info

      There are no police associations with a racist agenda or activity, as the official line of the police is that of tolerance and respect. However, on more than one occasion, the chief of police engages in racist discourse when he tells the media about the disprpoportionately high involvement of foreigners into crime, a practice repeately criticised by the Equality Body.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Media
      • Anti-racism
      • Daily life
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is there a legal definition / sanctioning of ethnic profiling?

      No

      Qualitative Info

       Although there is comprehensive data protection legislation in place prohibiting the collection and processing of personal data including race and ethnic origin, none of these instruments prohibit racial profiling. The legislative framework on data protection has not affected the practice of racial profiling, which is largely based on the physical characteristics of the victim, rather than on data maintained on file. An equality body report on a police operation carried out on 25.09.2009 at dawn to hunt down irregular migrant workers recommended that racial profiling be clearly defined and prohibited by law and the police should reinforce measures against this practice by issuing clear guidelines.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is there evidence or indication that the police force engages in ethnic profiling?

      Yes

      Qualitative Info

       

      The Cyprus ENAR report 2007 (http://cms.horus.be/files/99935/MediaArchive/pdf/en/Cyprus%20-%20SR%202007.pdf) claims that “racial profiling is not an uncommon practice of the police, although this is not officially admitted”. Citing the NGO KISA, the report suggested that there is a police practice of racial profiling of Turkish (Kurds), Bangladeshi and Pakistani origin, who have repeatedly submitted complaints to the Ombudsman and the Independent Authority for Investigation of Claims and Complaints against Members of the Police Force”.

      In its latest report on Cyprus published in 2011, ECRI also expressed concern over incidents of racial profiling which have occurred recently in Cyprus and referred to the televised police hunt for undocumented migrants of 25.09.2009, which had also been the subject of an equality body investigation. The incident involved a massive police operation in the early hours of 25 September 2009, during which police arrested 150 migrants. The police stated that the operation was conducted primarily to execute 21 arrest warrants and 25 search orders in connection with incidents outside a mosque the previous month. The operation, which involved road blocks and the use of handcuffs, received high media attention and was shown on all TV channels. It was the centre of debate for weeks afterwards. The Equality Body criticised the police for their disproportionate reaction and for spreading xenophobia, noting that many arrests were made without warrants or any objective elements justifying a suspicion that the persons concerned had committed an offense; arrests were based on the mere fact that the persons in question lived in a certain area or on their ethnic origin. The Commissioner’s report recommended that racial profiling should be clearly defined and prohibited by law and the police should reinforce measures against this practice by issuing clear guidelines. It also repeated its earlier recommendation that the police should consider hiring migrants as police officers as a measure to reinforce trust between the police and the migrant community and that legal obstacles such as the requirement for police officers to have Cypriot nationality should be lifted.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is there evidence that the immigration services engage in ethnic profiling?

      Yes.

      Data n/a

      Qualitative Info

      The police practices referred to in the response to question 47 above are carried out by the immigration police, a particular department of the police that reports to the immigration authorities.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Muslims
      • Religious minorities
      • Linguistic minorities
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence
      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is there evidence of significant disparities between the number of racist incidents and crimes reported and the numbers of racist incidents and crimes recorded by police authorities?

      No, because there is no mechanism collecting data other than that of the police

      Data n/a

      Qualitative Info

      Although the number of incidents recorded by the police every year is incredibly small, as admitted by the Equality Body in a number of its reports and by the ECRI report of 2011, there is no other record of racist crime to compare it by. 

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence
      • Nationalism

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is there evidence that areas containing significant numbers migrants and minorities are policed in different ways than others?

      No official evidence

      Data n/a

      Qualitative Info

      No, but in previous years migrant oragnisations complained to the Equality Body of excessive police force and police violence in areas with high migrant concentration. At the time, the Equality Body had recommended the hiring of members of ethnic/migrant communities  to the police force in an effort to ease tensions between the police and migrant organisations and increase the levels of acceptance of the police by migrant organisations, but this recomendation was not implemented.

      In current years, it is well known that there is little or no policing inside the areas known as the 'migrants' ghettos', hence the regular racial attacks by fascist groups against migrants in these areas. The only policing done of those areas are the police operations referred to as "Skoupa" which means broom, and which are basically stop and search operations intended to locate undocumented migrants.

      The lack of policing of areas with high migrant concentration creates conditions of impunity for the anti-immigrant groups to develop criminal activity in those areas. In November 2011, a press report about a racist violent incident against an unsuspecting Indian man by unknown young men riding a van without number plates and holding metallic bats, prompted a self initiated investigation by the Equality Body. It emerged that the incident took place on 26.08.2011 and that between 25-28.08.2011 a number of other attacks took place in the same area most probably by the same perpetrators; according to the police report, although some of these attacks were against Cypriots, the circumstances were such that the assailants probably mistook the Cypriots for foreigners and so attacked them. The Equality Body report (dated 02.11.2011, Ref. ΑΚR/ΑΥΤ. 2/2011) deplored the fact that no charges were pressed against anybody in respect of any racial incidents and recommended a comprehensive plan of action to improve and upgrade the system of preventing and investigating racist violence.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is there evidence of police violence against migrants/minorities in custody?

      Yes

      Data n/a

      Qualitative Info

      There is no quantitative data on the abuse of foreign prisoners or detainees. Qualitative data on this issue is also scant as the detention authorities grant the right of entry to places of detention only to very few organisations (Council of Europe, Ombudsman etc). NGOs are not allowed access. 

      On 15 April 2008 the Report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) to the Government of Cyprus was published in Strasbourg, regarding the visit of CPT to Cyprus carried out from 8 to 17 December 2004. The report sets out its findings and recommendations with regard to, inter alia, the conditions of detention of immigrants held in police stations on immigration related offenses. After setting out a list of prima facie well founded allegations of ill-treatment of detainees by police officers, some of which amounted to torture, the report noted that the risk of ill-treatment appeared to be particularly high in respect of foreign nationals, whether they were criminal suspects or immigration detainees (http://www.cpt.coe.int/documents/cyp/2008-17-inf-eng.pdf)

      This information is quite dated (2004) and it is possible that the situation has improved over the 7 years that have elapsed since CPT’s investigation. However, one of the areas of concern in this report, being the wide powers of the Attorney General to appoint (or not) investigators to conduct inquiries into allegations of police misconduct and the manner in which the Attorney General exercised these powers, continue to persist today. The CPT report expressed its dissatisfaction over the Attorney General’s reluctance to initiate investigations ex officio, undertaking investigations only after a formal complaint by the victim or his lawyer. More recent independent reports criticise the unsuitable conditions of detention of migrants but make no mention of police brutality. This however may also be a reflection of the fact that very few organisations have the right to visit places of detention of migrants and amongst those the CPT is perhaps the only one that can (or will) do so without prior notice.

      There is no information on treatment of minorities in detention and no indication of police violence.

        

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Muslims
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Islamophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement

      External Url http://www.cpt.coe.int/documents/cyp/2008-17-inf-eng.pdf

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Do migrants/minorities face disproportionate problems in accessing justice?

      yes

      Data n/a

      Qualitative Info

      The national report of Cyprus for the FRA entitled “Thematic Legal Study on assessment of Access to Justice in Civil Cases: Cyprus” dated 1 October 2009 revealed the following problems of access to justice by minorities and migrants. Although the report was drafted in 2009, the situation as regards these issues remained unchanged throughout 2011.

      1.  The Law on Provision of Legal Aid N. 165(I)/2002 provides for legal aid only for criminal and civil law cases and excludes administrative proceedings. A ECtHR decision against Cyprus dated 04.12.2008 on the issue of availability of legal aid in administrative proceedings concurring opinion that “a question arises as to the conformity of such legislation with the requirements of Article 6 of the Convention” and that “there is a priori no reason why it should not be made available in spheres other than criminal law” (Marangos v. Cyprus, Application no. 12846/05).
      2. In an effort to transpose articles 15(2), 15(6) and 38 of Council Directive 2005/85/EC of 1st December 2005 laying down minimum standards on procedures in Member States for granting and withdrawing refugee status, an amendment to the legal aid law was enacted extending legal aid to asylum seekers applying to the Supreme Court under article 146 of the Cypriot Constitution in order to set aside a negative decision either of the Asylum Service or of the Reviewing Authority. Such decision may concern either the rejection of the applicant’s asylum application or the cancellation of the applicant’s refugee status. Legal aid will be made available only for the first instance review of the application by the Supreme Court and not for any appeal against this decision. However, the granting of legal aid is conditional upon the application to the Supreme Court having chances of success. This provision has resulted in all but a couple of applications for legal aid to be rejected, as the Court would in most cases find that the applicant’s case has no chances of success. This provision essentially negates the whole concept of legal aid extended to asylum seekers.
      3. In the area of anti-discrimination, an important discrepancy is located in the process of reviewing and revising existing laws, regulations and practices which contain discriminatory provisions. Review appears to be triggered off only when a complaint is submitted to the equality body; there is no process of systematic and continuous review of laws practices and regulations. Furthermore, the procedure of referring laws to the Attorney General for preparing amending legislation has so far not yielded any results, thus leaving discriminatory provisions in force.
      4. In the area of free movement of workers across Europe, there is contradictory approach by the courts in cases involving claims to family reunion of Union citizens, including Cypriots. A Report by the Ombudsman (Ref. Α/P 1623, Α/P 1064, dated 06.05.2009) refers to as “a contradictory and defensive position” by the immigration authorities. In some cases the Supreme Court provided effective redress by setting aside the immigration authority decision, thus reasserting the supremacy of the EU acquis, with its more liberal procedures on free movement, over the antiquitated Cypriot immigration law, which contains more stringent procedures and vests the Chief Immigration Officer with wide discretional powers. However, in a large number of cases the Court ruled in favour of the immigration authority’s discretion to regulate entry into the country as ‘an expression of sovereignty of the Republic’. Furthermore, the numerous cases of mixed marriages where the immigration authorities have refused entry or deported the foreign spouse of the Cypriot national have again received non-uniform treatment by the Courts; some decisions find in favour of the applicant and others in favour of the immigration authority’s decision.
      5. The application of the so called ‘doctrine of necessity’, which effectively suspended all communal rights of the Turkish Cypriots contained in the Constitution, presents problems to Turkish Cypriots claiming property rights, student grants, pensions and fundamental rights such as the right to vote, which was restored following an ECtHR decision against Cyprus. E.g. there are several dozens if not hundreds of cases where Turkish Cypriots were denied access to their property in the Republic-control south of Cyprus, because the ‘the abnormal situation’ created by the 1974 war entitled the state to invoke emergency measures relying on the ‘doctrine of necessity’

      An Ombudsman’s report 12.03.2010 pursuant to a large number of complaints by migrant workers regarding the procedure followed by the Labour Office in investigating complaints by migrant workers against their employers revealed that, in some cases when migrant workers complained to the police for violation of their employment contract, the police chose to take the case to the Criminal Court instead of referring it to the Labour office, with the complainant being the accused. When the migrant workers’ testimony was no longer needed, then they would be deported without their allegations having ever been investigated. At the level of the labour office procedure, the officials did not make the necessary effort to investigate the allegations of the migrant worker even for the most obvious contractual violations and viewed all allegations made by migrants with suspicion. By contrast, they took the employer’s allegations for granted without investigation, demonstrating a clear pro-employer bias even where the employer’s contractual violation were more than obvious. Often, the labour dispute was investigated without taking into consideration the position of power of the employer over the employee and the latter’s lack of choice when instructed by the employer to perform work outside his/her contractual obligations. Also, whilst compliance by migrants with the instructions of the immigration authorities is closely monitored, compliance by the employer is not monitored. As a result, the sums due by the employer to the migrant often remain unpaid and the migrant worker is deported unable to recover the sums due to him/her.

       

       

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Ethnic minorities

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Intra-ethnic

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Employment - labour market
      • Anti-discrimination
      • Integration - social cohesion
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is there evidence of differential sentencing?

      No

      Data No records kept

      Qualitative Info

      There are no records to enable a comparison of such data. Decided cases are not archived by the type of the crime or the profile of the parties. In order to retrieve them in the Court's records, one must have the names of the parties and the reference number of the case, so it is not possible to study the sentences and arrive at comparative conclusions.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Asylum seekers

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      See other countriesSee indicator history
  • Employment

    Migrant workers who are out of work have their residence permit authomatically revoked and become subject to deportation. Work permits are issued for maximum of 4 years-overstayers become irregulars. There are no regularisation programs. Migrants carry out low status and low pay jobs that most Cypriots are unwilling to do. Trade unions do recruit migrant workers, but domestic work which has the highest concentration of migrant workers is not unionised.

    • Do the trade unions engage in specific activities recruiting or supporting/defending the rights of minority groups?

      No, although one trade union has traditionally good relations with Turkish Cypriots.

      Qualitative Info

      The Pancyprian Federation of Labour (PEO), the largest trade union confederation which is attached to the communist party AKEL has traditionally good relations with Turkish Cypriots and even employes some Turkish Cypriots as trade unionists. It does not engage in any specific activities to recruit or suport thier rights, but it does offer training, carry out awareness raising activities and defend thier rights vis-a-vis the employer on an ad hoc basis.    (Note: Turkish Cypriots cannot properly be described as a minority group- they are recognised by the Constitution as a 'community', just like the Greek Cypriots. The reference in this paragraph is to those Turkish Cypriots who either reside in the south (very small in number) or cross the checkpoints on a daily basis in order to work in the south)

      Groups affected/interested

      • Ethnic minorities

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Employment - labour market
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Do the trade unions engage in specific activities recruiting or supporting/defending the rights of migrants groups?

      Other than training and awareness measures, no.

      Qualitative Info

      Trade unions carry out training seminars (targeting mostly the Cypriot and non-Cypriot trade unionists amongst their ranks)and awareness campaigns through the publication of leaflets in the languages of the major immigrant groups. Some ombudsman's reports record incidents where trade unions have intervened to prevent the unwarranted or arbitrary deportation of migrants by the immigration authorities. In unionised industries, all employees, Cypriot or non-Cypriot, usually become members of one of the two major trade unions (SEK or PEO) - no special recruitment efforts are made. In the non-unionised industries, such as domestic work, no efforts have been made to recruit members.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Asylum seekers

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Employment - labour market
      See other countriesSee indicator history
  • Housing & Segregation

    There are migrant gettoes in all cities, with substandard accomodation, and instances of homelessness. The Nicosia municipality is evicting migrants from unfit premises but offers them no alternative accomodation. Roma settlements comprise mostly of prefabricated houses in poor state of repair and in remote locations, to appease local hostile comminities.Turkish Cypriots are denied access to their properties until resolution of the Cyprus problem, a matter now for the ECtHR.

    • Is there evidence of significant levels of segregation between migrant groups and the majority population?

      yes

      Data N/a

      Qualitative Info

      There are no available statistics on incidents of discrimination and racism in the area of housing, nor are there any official agencies to which such complaints may be submitted. No such cases were filed before courts or tribunals and no studies have been conducted. However, it is well known that there are 'migrant ghettoes' in every city, usually in the old parts of the cities where the quality of housing is bad and the rents are (relatively) low. These 'ghettoes' accomodate migrants from Asia and Africa and in some cases Pontian Greeks. In 2010, the Nicosia Municipality started to secure eviction orders for commercial premises being used as homes by poor immigrants. The premises are mainly run-down shops and small warehouses in the old part of Nicosia which had remained unoccupied for several years if not decades and were subsequently rented to poor immigrants as cheap housing, many lacking basic amenities such as a toilet and running water, without fire exits and being essentially unfit for human habitation. The Municipality has reported that without kitchen facilities, or even electricity, residents have resorted to cooking in bedrooms with gas stoves, which presents a major fire hazard. The Municipality has conducted no feasibility study and does not know how many shop dwellings there are, or how many residents are staying in these shops. Although the measures are in theory intended to improve living conditions of migrant workers, the measure will inevitably lead some migrants to homelessness and others to share more cramped space in residential apartments with other migrants. No plan has been made by the Municipality regarding the relocation of the persons evicted [P. Dewhurst (2010) ‘Evicted for their own safety, but where can they go? Over crowing looms in old city clear-out” in The Cyprus Mail (16.05.2010) http://www.cyprus-mail.com/features/evicted-safety-where-do-they-go/20100516]. In Pafos, the phenomenon of homelessness started to emerge, affecting EU nationals and mostly Polish men [B. Browne (2009) ‘Shelter plea for Paphos homeless’ in the Cyprus Mail (08.12.2009) http://www.cyprus-mail.com/cyprus/shelter-plea-paphos-homeless].

       

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Africans/black people

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Housing
      • Integration - social cohesion

      External Url http://www.cyprus-mail.com/features/evicted-safety-where-do-they-go/20100516; http://www.cyprus-mail.com/cyprus/shelter-plea-paphos-homeless

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • What is the ethnic origin of the highly segregated migrant group?

      No such data available

      Qualitative Info

      There is no indication or evidence that one group is more seggregated than the other. The 'migrant ghettoes' accomodate third country nationals from different ethnic/national backgrounds.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Housing
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is there evidence of significant levels of segregation between minority groups and the majority population?

      Yes

      Qualitative Info

      Out of the recognised national minorities, only the Roma reside in segregated conditions. There are few studies on the issue, which include the RAXEN  Thematic Study on housing conditions of Roma and Travellers, carried out in March 2009 for the FRA, an Ombudsman's report and references in Council of Europe reports (ECRI, FCNM). The housing offered to the Roma by the state is in  specifically designated settlements comprising of prefabricated houses; Turkish-Cypriot properties vacated by their owners and now administered by the Ministry of Interior; houses which the Welfare Service of the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance had rented from the private sector before being offered to the Roma.  Although no systematic data is available, it is a fact that the Roma settlements are generally located in in remote areas, sometimes without access to schools (Fourth ECRI report on Cyprus 2011) and with little or no contact with the host population. In the early 2000s, when the locations for the Roma settlements were chosen by the government, efforts were made to appease the local communities by setting up the settlements of prefabricated houses in remote rural areas (RAXEN Thematic study March 2009).

       

       

      Groups affected/interested

      • Roma & Travelers

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Housing

      External Url http://fra.europa.eu/fraWebsite/attachments/RAXEN-Roma%20Housing-Cyprus_en.pdf

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • What is the ethnic origin of the highly segregated minority group?

      Roma.

      Group Roma

      Qualitative Info

      The Roma is the only minority group that is segregated, not only from the majority population but also from the other minority groups. This is partly due to the housing policy followed by the government which provides for free accomodation for the Roma in settlements especially set up for them, usually in remote areas in order to avoid reactions from the local population; and partly due to the fact that the rest of the locals generally do not want to be residing close to the Roma. There is no quantitative data as regards their degree of seggregation. Their remote housing also affects thier access to education, as suggested by various studies and equality body reports [http://www.ombudsman.gov.cy/Ombudsman/ombudsman.nsf/presentationsArchive_gr/presentationsArchive_gr?OpenDocument].

      Groups affected/interested

      • Roma & Travelers

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Housing

      External Url http://www.ombudsman.gov.cy/Ombudsman/ombudsman.nsf/presentationsArchive_gr/presentationsArchive_gr?OpenDocument

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is there evidence of denial of housing/housing rights for certain ethnic groups?

      Yes

      Data N/a

      Qualitative Info

      The housing of the Roma is provided by the state. The 2009 RAXEN Thematic Study for Cyprus on the Housing of Roma and Travellers revealed that the existence of a mixed situation, with some houses in a good state of repair and others in a derelict condition. The location of the Roma housing was more problematic than its habitability, as the designated settlements were purposely set up in remote rural areas to appease hostile local communities. 

      Turkish Cypriot properties is more of a complex issue. In the situation that developed following the 1974 war, the properties left behind by the Turkish Cypriots who moved to the north of the country were placed under the control of the Minister of the Interior, under the  institution of the ‘Guardian of Turkish Cypriot Properties’ which was set up by Law containing Temporary Provisions for the Administration of Turkish Cypriot Properties in the Republic and other related matters N.139/1991. For years the Guardian would deny all Turkish Cypriots the right of use of their properties. In 2004, in the landmark case of Arif Mustafa v. The Republic (Supreme Court of Cyprus Case no.125/2004) the Court recognised the right of the Turkish Cypriot applicant to reside in his home. The applicant had been forced to abandon his property in 1974 as part of the forceful movement of population exercised at the time. Since then, his property was under the control of the Guardian. This right however was restricted to those Turkish Cypriots who reside in the Republic-controlled area (south) for a period not less than six months. Turkish Cypriots who do not ordinarily reside in the south are still denied the right to use their properties.  An amendment to the Guardian Law in 2010 introduced two significant changes. One of these amendments, to be found in Article 3, now entitles the Guardian to lift the ‘protection’ afforded to Turkish Cypriot properties after taking into consideration the circumstances of each case and balance all factors, including whether the Turkish Cypriot owner or his/her heirs or successors in title occupy property belonging to a Greek Cypriot in the north. The provision further states that the following factors shall, inter alia, be counted positively towards the return of the property to its owner:
      (a) when the property came under the control of the Guardian, the owner had his habitual residence abroad where he had travelled to at any time before or after the Turkish invasion of 1974 and the said owner continues to reside there or has returned or is due to return from abroad for permanent settlement in the areas controlled by the Republic;
      (b) after the property came under the control of the Guardian, the Turkish Cypriot owner settled permanently in the south and continues to reside there uninterruptedly;
      (c) the property was the owner’s residence prior to the Turkish invasion and the owner intends to use it again as his residence and to settle in the Republic-controlled areas.

      The wording of the law is such that these criteria are not exhaustive and that the Guardian has a wider discretion to allow the return of a property to its Turkish Cypriot owner. At the same time, the theme that permeates these criteria is a loosely interpreted ‘allegiance’ to the Republic of Cyprus by choosing it as the place for permanent residence. Therefore any decision of the Guardian to return a property to its Turkish Cypriot owner beyond the aforesaid criteria will probably have to be within the spirit of the lawmaker (i.e. contain an element of ‘allegiance’ to the Republic in order to be accepted by the Court. The institution of the Guardian and the denial of the right of use of Turkish Cypriot properties by thier owners are currently being challenged before the ECHR by a number of Turkish Cypriot property owners.

       
      Migrants are also faced with a tough regime as regards securing rented accomodation. A qualitative survey conducted in May 2010 by Insights Market Research in cooperation with the European University of Nicosia on behalf of the Socialist Women’s Movement,[1] which investigated the views and experiences of women from Britain, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Pontos living in Cyprus, revealed that Pontian, Bulgarian and Romanian women faced difficulties in securing living accommodation as most landlords did not want to rent to them. One interviewee reported having contacted a landlord who advertised for a flat for rent and as soon as she told him she was from Bulgaria he told her the flat had been rented. She then asked a Cypriot colleague to call the same landlord and the Cypriot colleague was told it was available and she could view it whenever she wanted. Pontian women living in Cyprus also reported facing problems of racism in their neighbourhood and in their children’s schools. Like their Romanian and Bulgarian counterparts, Pontian interviewees also reported difficulties in finding living accommodation. One Pontian woman who had bought a house in Nicosia reported being told by her lady vendor that she (the vendor) had told the neighbours that she (the interviewee) was Greek because “they [the neighbours] did not want Pontians in the neighbourhood.”



      [1] The method used was eight focus groups lasting from 90 minutes to two hours. The results of the survey were presented in a press conference on 04.10.2010.

       

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Ethnic minorities

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Inter-ethnic

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Housing
      See other countriesSee indicator history
  • Education

    Romani children face particular problems in education as the system fails to recognise thier special Romani identity and is unable to cater for thier needs, leading to high drop out rates and poor attainment. The housing seggregation of the Roma leads to school seggregation, as children have to attend the school that is closest to their residence. The comprehensive educational reform currently under way is gradually modifying the school curricula to render them multicultural. 

    • Evidence of school segregation and/or policies of separate/distinct schooling of migrants

      yes

      Qualitative Info

      The general policy of the Ministry of Education is declared to be countering segregation. Nevertheless, segregation does exist partly because children are obliged to attend schools in their area of residence, and therefore where there is segregation and concentration of migrant and certain ethnic groups in certain areas, children from the Roma settlements or from the migrant 'ghettoised' areas attend the school close to their homes. This is accentuated due to the fact that children of the Greek-Cypriot population often do not enrol at the schools of their area of residence if there are too many migrants enrolled there.

      According to some scholars,[1] the Ministry of Education’s focus on offering Greek language classes to migrant children and its lexical choice of the term ‘other-language’ [αλλόγλωσσοι – alloglossoi], used interchangeably in official policy texts with ‘alien’ [αλλοδαποί – allodapoi], ‘foreigners’ [ξένοι – xenoi], ignoring other aspects of their identities, create and maintain particular everyday ideologies and popular conceptualisations of migrant or Romani children which enhance segregation, at least on a discursive level, on the basis of their language. The practice of placing newly-arrived migrant students in mainstream classrooms a year lower than their age level, inevitably excludes them from their peers. Similarly, the practice of removing them from the classrooms for language support lessons normalises their marginalization.[2]

      One of the goals of educational reform is remove these barriers to migrant children. The school curricula, the teaching schedules and priorities were revised in the framework of the educational reform and the new programme was firstly introduced in pilot programmes in 2010-2011 and will be fully implemented during 20011-2012 and 2012-2013. No study has been carried out on the situation after the new curricula were implemented.

       



      [1] Zembylas, M. (2010) “Critical discourse analysis of educational policy of multiculturalism and intercultural education policy in the Republic of Cyprus”, The Cyprus Review, 22(1), pp. 39-59.

      [2] Gregoriou, Z. (2008). Policy Analysis Report: Cyprus (WP3) available at http://www.gemic.eu/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/cyprus-wp3.pdf: GeMIC: Gender - Migration - Intercultural Interaction in South-East Europe.

       

       

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Linguistic minorities

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Education
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Evidence of school segregation and/or policies of separate/distinct schooling of minorities

      yes

      Qualitative Info

      As in the case of migrants, despite the Ministry of Education's effort to counter seggregation, the housing condition of the Roma and thier residential concentration in specific areas inevitably means that Romani children attend specific schools in large numbers. This can lead Greek Cypriot parents to enrol their children in other schools, although there are also examples of schools where Romani and Greek Cypriot school children are attending the same school with little or no tensions, which were, to a large extent ironed out over the years. As an indication of the tensions which existed until recently, in September 2005, the parents’ association of a school in Paphos which was attended by large numbers of Roma, closed the school down, demanding that the Education Ministry suspend the Romani pupils’ attendance to the school until they received confirmation that none of them suffered from hepatitis (following some hepatitis incidents in a nearby village three months earlier). Out of a total of 341 pupils attending this particular school, 120 were non-Cypriots and 18 were Roma. The parents’ association, protesting at the large number of Roma in this school, demanded that the Roma pupils also be dispersed to other schools in the region. Overall, the authorities expressed disagreement over the parents’ action and gave their assurance over the health and sanitary safety of the school. However, they did nothing to prevent the closure of the school by the parents or to support and protect the Roma pupils from this outburst. Whilst the authorities called on the parents to terminate the closure of the school and to enter into a dialogue with them on how to solve the problem, they conformed to the parents’ demands to submit the Roma pupils, as well as the residents of a Roma settlement in neighbouring Makounda, to blood tests to establish whether any of them suffered from hepatitis. In an effort to appease the parents, the Paphos District Officer convinced a seven-member Roma family residing in the Roma settlement of the neighbouring Makounda, some of whose members had suffered from hepatitis but had successfully been treated, to move back to the village they had come from, and resettle into a home that had recently been restored. On 26 September 2005, the parents agreed to allow the school to re-open but only on the condition that Roma pupils would not attend the school. The Minister of Education succumbed to this request. On 28 September, the blood tests showed that none of the Roma pupils suffered from hepatitis and were thus allowed to return to their school. The Ombudsman started to investigate this incident, but decided to discontinue with the case, claiming that the problem had already been resolved.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Roma & Travelers

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Education
      See other countriesSee indicator history
  • Health And Social Protection

    ECRI records racist and xenophobic tendencies in the health care system. Cypriots with medium-low income receive free health care but poor migrants are asked to pay. The equality body recorded lack of sensitivity of health practitioners in handling cultural differences. Under pressure from xenophobic circles, who allege that asylum seekers are abusing the system, benefits to asylum seekers will change from cash allowance to coupons and services, etc.

  • Public Life, Culture, Sport & Media

     ECRI and other reports point out that media has played a negative role in stirring up racial hatred. Migrants working as football professionals suffer serious racist abuse by fans at the football ground, as sports authorities turn a blind eye in an effort “not to provoke the fans”. Far right groups are using football clubs to recruit young members. Turkish Cypriot fans and Turkish players have been attacked by nationalist mob at the pitch.

    • Media: Is there a visible presence (or absence) of members of target groups as media professionals?

      No

      Data N/A

      Qualitative Info

      There are no examples of members of vulnerable groups (minorities, ethnic communities, migrants) working as media professionals in the mainstream media. A radio program is operating as a civil society initiative involving both Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot journalists, but it is not broadcasting all the time and is rather marginal in terms of influence and impact (Radio Mayis - http://www.radyomayis.com)

      Groups affected/interested

      • Ethnic minorities

      Type (R/D)

      • Nationalism

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Media

      External Url http://www.radyomayis.com

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Media: Frequency and relevance of hate speech incidents in public life (and media) and media representations against migrants and minorities?

      No studies are available on the frequency of hate speech, but international reports record that media outlets oftten stir up hatred. 

      Qualitative Info

      There are no studies on the frequency of hate speech in the media. However ECRI and other international reports have repeatedly pointed out that media outlets have played a negative role in stirring up racial hatred. The Fourth ECRI report on Cyprus released in 2011 recorded that "negative attitudes towards migrants, asylum seekers and refugees are commonly expressed in political discourse and in the media" and that "that there is wide publication in Cyprus of xenophobic articles and sensationalism continues to be common in the media" (http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/ecri/Country-by-country/Cyprus/CYP-CbC-IV-2011-020-ENG.pdf).

      In September 2010 the equality body published a set of guidelines for the media in the framework of a PROGRESS program. The initiative, which was initially intended to lead to a binding Code of Conduct has instead resulted in a set of guidelines to the media, based on the logic of self-regulation of journalists. The journalists’ organisations in Cyprus, as well as the author of the publication who is a journalist himself, reject ‘external intervention’ to the conducting of journalism, such as Codes of Practice, as these are seen as restricting freedom of speech which is, according to the author, an inalienable constitutional right. The publication states that international and European experience has shown that regulatory frameworks with prohibitions and restrictions may have prevented the more obvious and extrovert manifestations of racism in the media but have not prevented ‘new racism’ in the media which is covert and implied. With the exception of regulations for television and radio, there is no binding law against racism in the media, only non-binding recommendations in the Code of Journalistic Ethics. The author admits that in practice there are gaps and distortions often leading to the production and reproduction of racist and xenophobic stereotypes but does not consider that a strict legislative framework or a Code of Conduct, which will in any case lead to restrictions in the freedom of speech, will solve these problems. Instead a set of guidelines, contained in the last two pages of the publication are proposed aiming at sensitising media actors so as to avoid racist and xenophobic discourses. It also lists a number of other recommended initiatives to promote awareness and sensitisation of journalists, such as training programs, the setting up of journalistic ethics committees, research on journalists’ perceptions of migrants, measures to encourage media outlets to hire migrants and other vulnerable groups, good practice manuals, conferences and others.

      This publication presents a number of problems. First, it omits to refer to legal instruments (e.g. the Criminal Code, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination) which criminalise racist publications and prohibits public incitement to violence and to hatred. These provisions are described by the author – and indirectly rejected- as “post colonial remnants restricting freedom of the Press”. The author ignored landmark ECHR decisions such as Soulas and Others v. France (no. 15948/03) which established that the French Court’s conviction of the authors of the book “The Colonisation of Europe- Truthful remarks about immigration and Islam" for inciting hatred and violence against Muslim communities, had been justified. The interference in the applicant’s right to freedom of expression that was seen by the ECHR as "necessary in a democratic society". In this case, the ECHR had noted that the terms used in the book were intended to give rise in readers to a feeling of rejection and antagonism and to lead the book's readers to share the solution recommended by the author, namely a war of ethnic re-conquest. This is particularly important for Cyprus, where the media often refers to immigrants as ‘invaders’. (The Guide is available in Greek at: http://www.no-discrimination.ombudsman.gov.cy/sites/default/files/kateythintiries_arhes_MME_kata_ratsismoy_xenofovias_diakriseon.pdf). In its Fourth report on Cyprus in 2011, ECRI recommended that the authorities evaluate whether the new code constitutes an effective means of combating racist and xenophobic discourse in the media and strengthen it if necessary. No such evaluation has been carried out to date.

       

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Ethnic minorities

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Nationalism

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Media
      • Political discourse -parties - orgs

      External Url http://www.no-discrimination.ombudsman.gov.cy/sites/default/files/kateythintiries_arhes_MME_kata_ratsismoy_xenofovias_diakriseon.pdf; http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/ecri/Country-by-country/Cyprus/CYP-CbC-IV-2011-020-ENG.pdf

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Sport: Racism, racist violence and hate speech in sporting venues (and reporting and policing thereof)?

      yes

      Qualitative Info

       

      By far the most common form of racism in sports is racial abuse against black footballers, which takes the form of racial verbal abuse and harassment by fans of the opposite team during matches, widely reported by the national and European media, but also against Turkish Cypriot spectators. Three top football clubs belonging to the traditional right seem to be particularly prone to such problems. The same clubs face problems in their basketball and volleyball teams, particularly but not exclusively their male teams, albeit to a lesser extent than in football. This is attributed to the fact that football draws much larger crowds of fans sitting in large and open spaces at the football pitch rather than the closed and smaller arrangements in volleyball and basketball which are easier to monitor. Racist violent attacks perpetrated by football fan clubs can take place in different forms, sometimes on the football ground itself, but also before or after the matches as well as outside the football pitch.

      On 24.12.2004 the equality body issued a report on racist behaviour during football matches, following a complaint from one fan club (Enosis Neon Paraliminiou) against another (Anorthosis) for the racist behaviour of the latter’s fans against the African footballer Nagoli Kennedy on 14.02.2004. This report is landmark as it sets out the framework for the handling of these incidents by the football authorities and led to the adoption of measures which however turned out not to be far reaching enough to have a serious impact. The complaint stated that every time Kennedy touched the ball fans of Anorthosis were booing and imitating ape sounds but there was no reaction either from the referee, or by the Cyprus Football Association, or the stadium authorities or the police. The club also complained to FARE and the disciplinary committee of UEFA arguing that in 2003 the fans of Anorthosis demonstrated similar racist behaviour against black players of AEL, whilst fans of APOEL displayed racist behaviour in every match where there are African players playing in the opponent club. The Cyprus Football Association disagreement with the assessment of the complainant that “the situation is tragic” and states that “on the contrary the Cyprus Football Association has evaluated the situation and has concluded that the incidents are sporadic, there is no concerted practice and by the low profile measures taken” the Cyprus Football Association “believes that the matter will not escalate.” In response to the allegation that the incidents were ignored both by the Cyprus Football Association observer as well as by the referee at the match, the Cyprus Football Association claimed that the incidents went unnoticed because they were of such low magnitude. The equality body report concluded that the frequency of racist behaviour in the football field and the shouting of racist slogans are not isolated incidents; instead, the behaviour complained of is indeed regularly manifested and recommended a set of measures.

      Over the last few years, a number of sports-related cases were investigated by the Anti-discrimination Authority: a violent racial attack on 15.1.2009 by Greek Cypriot hooligans against Turkish-Cypriot fans who were watching a football match; a racial attack against a fifteen-year-old black pupil who was playing volleyball for her school team, in December 2008; a racial attack against migrants in the rural village of Ypsonas in June 2008 where although taking place outside the football pitch, the perpetrators were members of the same football fan club and had organised the attack from within their club; same happened with a racial attack against Turkish-Cypriot students at the English School in Nicosia on 22.11.2006, which although outside the football pitch, again the perpetrators organised the attack from their football fan club (APOEL).

      In December 2010, after a professional men's basketball match in Nicosia between a Greek Cypriot team (APOEL) and a Turkish team (Pinar Karsiyaka), fans of the Greek Cypriot team attacked the players of the Turkish team, nearly provoking a diplomatic incident between Cyprus and Turkey. According to the police, no Pinar Karsiyaka members were injured during the incident that started after the final whistle when APOEL fans threw coins and cigarette lighters at the Turkish team. NGO reports stated that the Turkish team’s coach sustained a bone fracture in his arm as a result of the attack. The police claimed to have prevented a group of APOEL fans from charging the Turkish team's locker room, while tear gas was used to disperse about 500 stone-throwing fans outside the stadium. Three 15-year-olds were arrested while five police officers suffered minor injuries. Pinar Karsiyaka had wanted to be transported to the breakaway north after the violence, but Greek Cypriot officials "worked all night" to prevent that because it would have cast doubt over the government's ability to provide security to Turkish athletes. The police escorted the Turkish team to its Nicosia hotel where security around the building had been stepped up. The team departed a few days later without incident. In the end, there were no prosecutions or convictions and the three youth arrested were released shortly afterwards. The president of the Republic condemned the attack as “providing fuel to Turkish propaganda”, calling the attackers “brainless hooligans.”

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Africans/black people

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence
      • Nationalism
      • Xenophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Sport
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Sport: Is hate speech ground for sanctions to sport clubs and applied/applicable in practice?

      No.

      Qualitative Info

      The Law on the Prevention and Combating of Violence in Sports Venues N. 48(I)/2008 prohibits racist statements by sports actors and the use of racist posters, banners, gestures or the uttering of words with racist or insulting content in general. It does not foresee any sanctions against clubs for the actions of their fans, even when the fans are using the club premises to launch their various racist activities. The general prohibition against racist speech and gestures is rarely applied; the approach followed by the authorities is not to provoke the fans and stir up trouble.

      The RAXEN Thematic Study on Cyprus of March 2009 entitled ‘Preventing racism, xenophobia and related intolerance in sport across the European Union’ quoted particular black footballers complaining about fans chanting slogans like “let’s throw some bananas at him,” and “go back to the jungle you black bastard”, making monkey noises when a black footballer touched the ball, all of which were a common occurrence at some grounds; some black players reportedly expressed the wish to leave Cyprus as a result of this behaviour.

       

      Groups affected/interested

      • Ethnic minorities
      • Africans/black people

      Type (R/D)

      • Afrophobia
      • Nationalism
      • Xenophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Sport
      See other countriesSee indicator history