UK GOVERNMENT LOSES APPEAL AGAINST CASE OF REFUGEES AT CYPRUS BASE – The ruling of the British Court

The British Interior Ministry’s quick review of the decision to ban refugees living in the base of Dhekelia’s base in Britain was last Thursday ordered by the Court of Appeals of the country.

The decision concerns six families from Iraq, Sudan, Ethiopia and Syria, whose members were among 75 people who rescued on the coasts of Cyprus in October 1998 while on a fishing boat heading for Italy.

Since then, families live in facilities within the British Dhekelia base. According to their advocates, the British government refused for 18 years to recognise their rights as refugees.

Their request for an establishment in the UK was rejected in November 2014 by the then Home Secretary and current British Prime Minister Teresa Mei, on the grounds that they had no ties to the country and that they could seek asylum and relocate to another area in Cyprus.

As the Dhekelia bases are military bases, they are not designed for permanent residence and therefore refugees have limited access to services such as education and health care. Also, their rights were limited and they were unable to travel.

UNHCR welcomed the ruling of the UK Court of Appeal and stressed the need for a sustainable solution for refugees.