Buffer zone fence ‘absolutely useless’

Residents living in the buffer zone have decried the 14km fence stretching across the Green Line, calling it useless, as Deputy Minister of Migration Nicholas Ioannides visited the site on Thursday.

Ioannides met with farmers and residents in Avlona, seeking to be briefed on problems they face.

“I wanted to see for myself what the situation is like, to hear from the residents so I have a clear picture.”

The deputy minister had met with some of the representatives last week in his office but said it was important to see the situation on the ground.

Member of the Avlona community council Haris Loizou said the fence stretching across the Green Line served absolutely no purpose and was useless.

The barbed wire was placed at the behest of the previous government’s Interior Minister Nicos Nouris as part of an effort to prevent migrants arriving through the buffer zone.

Unficyp has raised objections over the matter and urged the government to take action and remove it.

Loizou said the fence is ‘useful’ for about two minutes.

“It prevents someone from crossing for about two minutes.” After that time is up, anyone can easily cross, he specified.

Nonetheless “for these two minutes, so many problems are created in our area.”

He specified the fence gets in their way and also creates a feeling that there is a border.

“What do you mean you put a fence? There are no borders, our borders are further down at the sea. For this reason, the fence has to be removed.”

Ioannides underlined the justice minister has asked for a report evaluating the effectiveness of the fence.

It will be carried out by police and based on the findings, the deputy ministry will prepare a proposal and submit it to the president for a final decision.

Asked if he thought the fence was serving any purpose, Ioannides said he could not evaluate that, though he said he recognises there are practical consequences on residents.

“When the police prepares its report on the matter, then we can have a full picture.”

Loizou raised the issue of the migrants currently stranded in the buffer zone who currently number around 70.

“What will happen if they become 500 and then 1,000? Will the UN place prefabricated houses for them there?”

He called on the government to explore incentives that could boost activity in the buffer zone. “In this way, we stake a claim over it with our mere presence. If we weren’t here as farmers, then the buffer zone would be lost.”

Regarding a gate placed by Cypriot authorities on the Akaki-Avlona road, Loizou said this has boomeranged on the locals, as the UN has essentially taken it over.

“They use the gate to conduct checks and not allow farmers to go on further, asking us to show a pass. In other words, the UN are using our own installations to make checks, which is unacceptable.”

Last month, the government had said it had already taken a political decision to remove the 14 km of barbed wire stretching across the buffer zone, after it was criticised by Disy for ignoring UN reports on the matter.

A government source explained that the decision has been taken but the question of when it will be removed is what the police report is currently evaluating.