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dpa
Athens
The situation in Cyprus’ largest refugee camp, Pournara, has deteriorated further. Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiades spoke of “tragic conditions” during a visit to the camp to the west of the capital Nicosia on Monday.
The camp was built to house 1,000 people, but twice as many currently live there. During the president’s visit hundreds of people gathered at the fence and shouted: “We need help.”
They say there are problems with food and water supply. Anastasiades promised that his government “will solve these problems.”
According to the Cypriot Interior Ministry, the majority of the people in the camp come from Africa.
Most of them are brought by smuggling gangs from Turkey to the north of the Mediterranean island, which is occupied by Turkish troops. They are then transported to the south through sections of the separation line that are not well guarded.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 into a larger Greek Cypriot part in the south and a Turkish Cypriot part in the north. Only Turkey recognizes northern Cyprus as a state.
Athens
The situation in Cyprus’ largest refugee camp, Pournara, has deteriorated further. Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiades spoke of “tragic conditions” during a visit to the camp to the west of the capital Nicosia on Monday.
The camp was built to house 1,000 people, but twice as many currently live there. During the president’s visit hundreds of people gathered at the fence and shouted: “We need help.”
They say there are problems with food and water supply. Anastasiades promised that his government “will solve these problems.”
According to the Cypriot Interior Ministry, the majority of the people in the camp come from Africa.
Most of them are brought by smuggling gangs from Turkey to the north of the Mediterranean island, which is occupied by Turkish troops. They are then transported to the south through sections of the separation line that are not well guarded.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 into a larger Greek Cypriot part in the south and a Turkish Cypriot part in the north. Only Turkey recognizes northern Cyprus as a state.
