Kofinou a ‘model reception centre’ for migrants

Cyprus’ exposure to the public over its handling of migrants has not been flattering. Accusations over pushbacks, violence and unhygienic living conditions have been documented in numerous reports from organisations such as the EU, UN and Human Rights Watch.

It was therefore a surprise – to say the least – when a visit at the Kofinou reception centre painted a starkly different picture. New facilities, staff invested in people’s stories and migrants who said they were relatively happy.

Was this a PR stint because a journalist was there?

It was hard not to be cynical but while a lot could be faked, the ease with which the children played with one of the employees there couldn’t be. It showed a relationship of trust, comfort and safety.

According to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in Cyprus, Kofinou is in fact a “model centre” for a migrant reception facility.

Considering the UN has clashed with the government repeatedly in the past few months over pushback accusations, this was quite a telling statement.

More so, it appears the Kofinou community itself has shrugged off racist sentiments and in fact says they co-exist with the asylum seekers peacefully.

Kofinou’s community leader Constantinos Antoniou who is 28 years old, tells the Sunday Mail the residents peacefully live side-by-side with the neighbouring asylum seekers without issue.

“The presence of migrants poses no problems to us here. We have no problem with the people and never had. We coexist just fine.”

He refuses to dignify a lot of complaints from neighbouring areas hoping to have migrant background children going to separate schools so as not to mix with “the locals”.

 “We’re all refugees at Kofinou. We know what it’s like to lose everything and have to start from scratch.”

In fact, Antoniou says the only problem is that there need to be better facilities such as pavements and street lighting for the safety of the individuals at night, particularly the migrants who have to return to Kofinou by evening.

And though it defies the image Cyprus has been tainted with, it appears that an obscure corner of the island has shrugged off the rise of Elam and violent incidents against migrants. People working at the facility and residents in the Kofinou community itself pay no attention to anti-migrant sentiments which have plagued the island. Or rather, it’s not the focus.

At the centre, the visit began with an introduction to Vasso Panayiotou who works at the facility. Her investment in the work she does is hard to disregard as she stresses how much they try to do to make things better.

Cats roam the reception centre and some of the residents smile as they hang their clothes up. A barbed wire separating the Kofinou facility from the nearby deportation centre for failed asylum seekers is a reminder of the fortune that brought them to this part of the world.

Two children chat either side of the fence and one slips some food to the other under the wire.

“They can meet outside,” Panayiotou says.

The deputy ministry of migration recognises that Kofinou has been largely transformed in the past six years. With EU funding going a long way, the infrastructure has been upgraded and expanded, with new facilities unveiled last year.

In 2018 the capacity was at 300 beds. By the end of this year, the figure will have more than doubled to 750 beds, according to the deputy ministry of migration.

Currently, a total of 438 residents, adults and minors reside at Kofinou. Of these, 153 are children, 174 are men and 111 women.

The centre has a play area, classrooms where Greek classes are available for free, and on-site staff that aim to help migrants find a job and integrate into society. This is part of a network of employees ranging from social workers, psychologists, doctors and nurses as well as police and private security.

Currently, there are 80 employees working at the centre.

Panayiotou paints a hopeful picture for the future of the Kofinou facility and her enthusiasm is hard to doubt. Residents say the biggest struggle is the wait – for an interview date, an update on their paperwork, progress on their application.

Though there are cleaners, the residents also take on some of those responsibilities, while Panayiotou explains there is a catering service for the residents’ food needs.

But the question still hangs in the air. If Kofinou is really so great, how does it explain the stark contrast to everything written about Pournara? Only in May, the Council of Europe’s anti-torture report on Cyprus said people sent to Pournara migrant reception centre were placed in containers without electricity or hot water, crammed next to each other “like sardines, in unhygienic conditions”.

According to the deputy ministry of migration however, Cyprus has been unfairly criticised for its handling of migrants.

“There was a period of a massive influx of migrants where Cyprus was in a state of emergency and had to manage hosting these people in the midst of the Covid pandemic,” it told the Cyprus Mail.

In fact for long stretches of time, Pournara was consistently overcrowded, thus accumulating more and more problems.

Now, a fraction of the people live there making it far more manageable. But Panayiotou explains another key difference – Pournara is supposed to be an admission centre, far more faceless.

Its role (despite the reality) is to have individuals sign up and then leave after a few days.

Kofinou on the other hand, is a whole other ball game. People are there for months. Relationships are established, people become part of each other’s lives. “You hear their stories, know their life, their family.” And the bonds then become deeper.

“Everyone here cares,” Panayiotou concludes. The team is dedicated and led by a great manager who transformed the centre in the six years he has been at the post, she says.

“The people who work here wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if things were going wrong.”