Athienou residents whose community is entirely within the divided island’s buffer zone will never consent to government plans for a barbed-wire fence to be built around it in a bid to stop illegal migration.
This is the message sent out on Friday by Athienou mayor Kyriacos Kareklas who also expressed anger over the apparent poor policing of the Nicosia district area, according to Philenews.
“Yes, we do want the migratory flows from our area to stop. Yes, we do want human traffickers to be arrested and imprisoned. But we don’t want Athienou to get imprisoned. We say no to that,” he said.
“There are other ways to stop illegal migration. Better policing, for example, better cooperation with citizens, installation of surveillance cameras etc. Building a destructive barbed wire fence around the area is not the answer, we don’t want to feel prisoners in our own homes” he added.
Farming and other practical activities will be affected by the barbed wire fence while a number of animals are destined to lose their lives from it.
The government began placing a barbed wire fence around the green line last year, as 2022 recorded an unprecedented total of 21,000 new political asylum applications.
Barbed wire has already been installed in the area between the villages of Astromeritis-Akaki-Kokkinotrimithia along the Nicosia buffer zone.
