3. Refugee in Cyprus

The Republic of Cyprus is a small island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located between three continents: Europe, Asia and Africa. The closest neighbours are Turkey from the North, Syria and Lebanon from the East, Israel from the South-East, and Egypt from the South. In 2004 RoC joined European Union and became the southern periphery of EU borders (Mainwaring, 2014). In recent years, Cyprus has seen a massive influx of displaced people due to political upheaval and conflicts in the region. From 2015 onwards, the number of refugees has been increasing. A vast number of asylum application has been coming from war-torn Syria. This growth accelerated in 2018, a notable increase – of 72% over the prior year. The country’s constrained reception infrastructure was put to the test in 2019 with a further jump of 65% (UNHCR, 2022). In 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of lodged asylum applications went down, increasing to almost double the following year. In the current year, until the end of June, there were already 12048 submitted applications. Considering the size of the island and its population, the Republic of Cyprus is currently in the leading position regarding the number of asylum applications per capita in EU member states (UNHCR, 2022).

The government of RoC is struggling with a tremendous amount of asylum seekers. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported prolonged waiting time for an asylum determination procedure (UNHCR, 2022). It is a complicated and overwhelming process that can take up to three years on average, increasing the difficulties faced by asylum seekers. Because of the forced nature of their escape and experiences, refugees, in contrast to migrants, frequently have particular needs that must be addressed for better integration into society. While the government has been working on a new integration strategy over the past few years, the first country integration plan, which was established for the 2010–2012 period, focused on integrating migrants generally (UNHCR, 2022). There is a lot to be done to improve Cyprus’s integration policy, and this is the biggest challenge of the national asylum system, according to the UNHCR.

4. Organisation Generation For Change CY (GFCCY)

Generation For Change CY is a small grass-root non-profit organisation that strives for a better, more inclusive society where everyone can have equal rights and opportunities in the Republic of Cyprus. The organisation’s creation was inspired by the “Black Lives Matter” movement happening worldwide in the summer of 2020. According to co-founder Etinosa Erevbenagie-Johnbull: “Myself and some other friends came together to give Black Lives Matter protest in Nicosia, and after we started to discuss the different ways we can continue work when it comes to bringing awareness on the injustice that different marginalised groups are facing in Cyprus, such as: black people, migrants, refugees or people of LGBTQ+ community, persons with disabilities or the poor, so we then created a group called Generation For Change CY”.

The crucial moment for the organisation was the winter of 2020. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Cyprus was on a harsh lockdown, and newly coming refugees were not allowed to apply for asylum and were not admitted to the Porunara refugee camp1. In effect, they were left homeless on the streets. What resulted was that many of them gathered in the parking lot outside of the Immigration Center in Nicosia. As Etinosa explains: “We as an organisation (…), we took some pictures, videos and uploaded them on social media and ask people to support with food, bedding, clothes. Many people started to contact us to support us, and that is how a lot of active, important members we met. (…). That was when we all met. We created then organisation’s Donation Drive, which is still running till today.”. That was a breaking point for the organisation’s objectives.

After the “parking lot event,” they established three pillars of their work. The first of the pillars of action is humanitarian aid, which is the distribution of material goods to vulnerable groups and people living under difficult circumstances. Under the branch of humanitarian assistance, the Donation Drive programme runs, which main goals are to support vulnerable families and individuals with food, hygiene essentials, clothes, and other basic items. They strive to deliver 30 packages every week. The Donation Drive project engages a lot of volunteers on different levels. The second pillar focuses on integration and empowering people from disadvantaged groups. Under this pillar, they provide language classes and employability programmes where people can obtain the knowledge and skills to help them find employment and better integrate into the host country. One of the most significant projects in the second pillar is e-Learning For Change. It is an online language course that provides free basic English and Greek classes. Programme e-Learning For Change aims to empower and assist non-English and non-Greek speaking refugees and migrants living in Cyprus to learn the language. The current e-Learning For Change semester offers six Greek and four English groups. When I started at the GFCCY, my first task was working on the e-Learning project. The semester was just starting, so I was assigned to register the students and create the classes. I was handling the project’s data and had to prepare information for advertising about how many students we have in the class and from which countries they come. The number is quite impressive. In the autumn of 2022, GFCCY enrolled 200 people in the class from around 35 different countries living in Cyprus.

Another very new and significant programme under this pillar is Employability Hub which aims to increase the employability and inclusion of disadvantaged groups in the Cypriot labour market. Within this programme, we organised an Information Communication Technology class (ICT skills course), a CV creation session, a preparation workshop for a job interview, Labour Rights seminar, and an introductory Greek class that will take place in person. The projects outlined above are all designed to help people enter and successfully navigate the labour market.

They also offer projects for children, like the Afterschool for Change. It is a safe intercultural space for children in age 7 to 14 years old to help them support the language learning process. As well as facilitate the development of their academic skills. On top of that, there are sports programmes and events like the basketball Hope team and the Yoga class for migrant and refugee women.

Lastly, the third pillar of the action is the initial one – raising awareness about societal issues. Interculturalism also expanded that branch, focusing on bringing people together from different groups and communities. The goal is to create more intercultural relations in Cyprus, where people can interact. Within that field, they organise events like Gathering for Understanding or movie nights where people from dissimilar backgrounds can meet together to share their experiences and discuss current issues.

Besides a few ongoing projects and organising events, GFCCY is also involved in activities outside the office. The most significant one is educational lectures at Universities or schools that aim to raise awareness about the problematic situation of migrants and asylum seekers in Cyprus, advertise the importance of civil society organisations and encourage young people to volunteer. One of the persons I interviewed became a volunteer after Etinosa’s presentations at the University

Officially organisation consist of six members (two full-time and four part-time). As part of the organisation, it is necessary to mention a wonderful group of volunteers and teachers-volunteers. Without their time and dedication, they would not be able to carry out these projects.