Roma flee Turkish-occupied Northern Cyprus; anti-Gypsyism breaks out in the South

15 August 2001

The Paris-based Alternative Information Network (AIM) reported on April 24, 2001, that since the beginning of March 2001, more than 150 Turkish Cypriot Roma had recently crossed the so-called Green Line, which has divided the island since 1974. The Roma commonly arrived as families, in groups of about ten, at night and with few belongings. AIM reports that the immigrants told police at the border that they were fleeing the dire economic situation in the area in the north, under Turkish control. However while the Cyprus government, which governs the south of the island, acknowledged that as Cypriot citizens, the Roma could not be returned and would be housed and provided with jobs, anti-Romani sentiment has broken out following the arrival of Roma from Northern Cyprus. According to AIM, when local residents in Kotsiatis, near Nicosia, complained about a holding centre for the Roma being built in their village, the Interior Minister, Mr Christodoulos Christodoulou, soothed residents fears by promising that the building would be built at least three kilometres away from the village. Suspicion toward the Roma has been highlighted by conspiracy theories that the Turks had masterminded the "Gypsy influx" to destabilise the South. Justice Minister Mr Nicos Koshis further stated that the intelligence services suspected that the "Gypsies" were undercover Turkish spies.

(AIM)