Syrians in Cyprus: How These People Operate!
Syrian and Palestinian refugees in Cyprus say that they are “at a breaking point”. You might remember hearing about them. In September, 337 of them were headed – illegally – to Italy when their boat broke down. The passengers described their ordeal, “We spent days at sea with no food and no water. There were so many people on the boat. We called it the journey of death.”
You would think that they would be grateful for being rescued. They weren’t. A passing cruise liner rescued them and took them to the nearest port, in Cyprus. That’s when the group from Syria threw their first hissy fit. They refused to get off the ship and demanded that the crew take them to Italy. It did not matter that there were hundreds of paying passengers on the ship who had to get to their destinations. They would not relent – until an elite group of Cypriot riot police arrived in force.
Since then the group have been enlightening the public about their financial dealings. Some paid as much as $8,000 (6,400 euros) each for their first illegal boat rides. Others, including children, paid $6,000 (4,900 euros). You would think that perhaps they might have figured out that paying a lot of money to a lawbreaking smuggler is not a good idea. But about two weeks ago, several from the group gave one of their own around $5,000 (4,000 euros) each after he promised he could get them off Cyprus and into mainland Europe. They had collected the sums from their apparently well-off relatives in Syria and Europe. The would-be smuggler, however, disappeared along with the money. [I wonder which European country he went to?]
The group – who are staying in tents at a former military camp – are not happy campers. One member of the group hung himself recently. Only about 20 agreed to remain in Cyprus. The rest are still holding out for Europe.
The other day, the group organized a demonstration with signs written in English. One sign, “We want to live in safe country”. Another sign goes further “We want the freedom of choose the country in which we want to live”. (Ah, they must be Soros’ “globalists”!) One protester complained that they cannot afford the fees to apply for residency in Cyprus. That’s 70 euros or $85 – small change compared to $8,000 and perhaps an additional $5,000 apiece that these people paid before. Why don’t they call their relatives again?
Members of the group complained that they expected to stay in hotels in Cyprus – not tents. ...
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