Buffer zone barbed wire still there despite promises to remove it

The barbed wire placed in Cyprus’ buffer zone near the villages of Akaki, Peristerona, and Astromeritis to kerb migrant flows is still there, despite government promises to remove it, United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (Unficyp) spokesman Aleem Siddique said on Friday.

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, he said there is “no change in the situation on the ground” in terms of the placing of barbed wire in those three villages, and also made reference to concerns raised over the barbed wire’s placement in reports written by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Guterres’ latest annual report, released in July, stated that Unficyp peacekeepers based on the island face “significant operational challenges, including restrictions on [their] freedom of movement”.

He also pointed out that the barbed wire had been placed in those areas “against the protests of the UN mission”.

“This fence has not been removed, despite previous indications that it would be. Such actions not only impede Unficyp’s operations but also signify a disregard for the mission’s efforts to maintain stability and peace.”

Siddique’s comments on Friday come after newspaper Phileleftheros had announced that cabinet had on Wednesday approved a decision to remove the barbed wire.

The newspaper reported that Migration Deputy Minister Nicholas Ioannides had proposed that the barbed wire be removed, with Ioannides telling them that a police report which concluded that the barbed wire had no impact on migrant flows was submitted to him.

Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis also said the government had decided that police patrols on the Green Line would increase after the barbed wire was removed, with CCTV cameras also set to be placed in the area.

Friday’s reports come almost three months after deputy government spokesman had said a decision to remove the barbed wire “had been taken in principle”, and that it had been clear from observed migrant flows during the summer of 2023 that the barbed wire “does not serve is purpose”.

This opinion was shared by House President Annita Demetriou, who wrote to President Nikos Christodoulides about the matter, saying “the fence is completely useless in achieving its aim … while also bearing a great political cost to Cyprus”.

Then, in August, Ioannides had announced his intention to “give a detailed recommendation” to Christodoulides about the next steps to be taken.

On Friday, he had also made reference to “reactions of the local residents” who had “suffered from [the barbed wire’s] installation” and added that their feelings on the matter had been taken into account.

Astromeritis mukhtar Aris Constantinou had told the Cyprus Mail earlier that people in his village are facing difficulties in tending their farmland in the buffer zone, and that the value of their property and their ability to construct new buildings has also been negatively affected.

Before that, around 200 people from the impacted villages had staged a protest, closing the road between Troodos and the Akaki packing plant to vent their fury.

The barbed wire was initially installed in the spring of 2022 and gained the nickname the “Nouris wire”, named after the interior minister of the day, Nicos Nouris.

It came as the number of people travelling from Turkey to the north and then crossing the Green Line into the Republic of Cyprus to claim asylum increased.

The initial plans would have seen the barbed wire stretch further eastward past the villages of Denia and Mammari, but the two villages’ mukhtars Christakis Panayiotou and Nicos Kodjiapashis protested the plans, promising to “block any efforts” to place barbed wire in their villages.

They said that if barbed wire was placed along the southern side of the buffer zone in their villages, “3,000 people would lose access to government-controlled areas, effectively trapping them between Turkish troops and the barbed wire, with little room for escape”.

“We will not accept entire villages and families being cut off and deprived of free movement,” they added.