Medical student and his mother sleeping in park after being left homeless

“My mother and I are in financial hell. Since Sunday night, we have been without a home… we became homeless,” says Datis Kalalis, a 22-year-old medical student at the University of Cyprus.

The young man expressed his despair over the conditions he and his 50-year-old mother have been living in for months. With his €400 salary, they had to pay €380 for rent and electricity, leaving them with only €20 to cover their nutrition.

“How is it possible for someone who has been granted honorary citizenship by the Republic of Cyprus to have to sleep in a park tonight?” he wondered, adding that his only option now was to settle outside the Presidential Palace.

“We came to Cyprus from Iran with my parents in 2011. A few years later, in 2018, the then government decided to honourably grant my mother and me Cypriot citizenship, as I had secured medals in mathematics Olympiads representing our country,” Datis said, adding that he is currently a medical student at the University of Cyprus.

“All these years, my mother has been unable to find work, despite approaching the relevant office, responding to hundreds of job ads on her own, and being educated. She is a mathematician and was the one who supported me through the Olympiads,” he said.

“At the moment, I am also unemployed,” he stated. Several factors contributed to this, including living outside Anagyia without transportation. Shortly after, the owner of their residence evicted them.

“With the little money we had, we secured a room for a few days. Tomorrow at 11:00, we will be on the street,” the young student noted, indicating that he had less than €15 in his pocket.

“I have often sought help from the Social Welfare Services, essentially begging for emergency funds.” His mother, he notes, applied for social assistance in early January, which is still under consideration.

He also mentioned that he requested a room from the university dormitories, but they had no capacity. Moreover, his mother could not join him there.

Datis is calling for support from the services to help them find jobs. He wishes to complete his medical studies and become a pathologist researcher but fears he may not achieve this under the current circumstances.