“De rien!” I aggressively repeat the words for “you’re welcome” in French to our new friend Philip. “De rien!” He retorts, emphasizing the throat noise used in this phrase. This goes on for several minutes, and other French speakers join in – some from the Congo, some from Cameroon. After several failed attempts, Isaiah, who speaks no French, comes up and says with a straight face, “I got it. De rien.” Philip goes wild and shouts, “You got it, man!” I lose it. Isaiah had pronounced it just as I had been pronouncing it. In the midst of everything, we’re all laughing hysterically, and I’m almost to the point of tears (okay, maybe the tears were from a little lost pride in my language learning skills). In the end, Philip has to dumb it down for me and gives me an alternative way to say “you’re welcome” in French, “Pas de quoi.” It’s one of our many inside jokes now.

Photo by Stephanie Braconnier on Unsplash

Philip’s parents are from Rwanda. He was born on their journey to the Congo to escape the civil war in their own country. He’s been an asylum seeker here in Cyprus for about three years, waiting to be registered as a refugee. If, like me, you didn’t know what the difference between “asylum seeker” and “refugee” is, I explain this a bit later on. Philip has a similar reason for ending up here as many others: fleeing from war in their own land. Being here only five weeks, I have seen a flood of forcibly displaced peoples pouring into the country. At the refugee center I volunteer at, there are new people every week who have come from another country to escape war or some other injustice. Cyprus is overwhelmed with this influx, and within the country, there is a growing question of, “What do we do?” The general population is not very sympathetic towards refugees and does not know how to respond to them. A majority of the time, these people arrive carrying the weight of trauma, struggling to cope with their new reality, and have no one to help guide them. My intention with this post is to shed light on the asylum seeker crisis happening here in Cyprus by providing some information on what migrants face coming here. However, I want to take it a little deeper than this, and issue a call to action for you – whoever is reading this, in whatever nation you may be in – to love your neighbor as yourself.

Who is your neighbor? Humankind.

Asylum seekers: someone asking for permanent refuge in a foreign country but whose claim to need  protection has not yet been definitively evaluated. Refugees: have had to cross an international border in  search of safety, seeking refuge outside of their home  country.

(Recognized refugees have more options than asylum seekers and are granted government assistance.*)

Terminology of Forced Displacement. Iternational Association for Refugees (2017). Retrieved from https://iafr.org/downloads/Terminology of Forced Displacement.pdf.

*- my words

Digging a little deeper into the issue, one finds that the war in 1974 largely contributes to a victim mindset within both Greek and Turkish Cypriots.

40 Years of Tension

This event was short but packed with great tragedy. I will not go into the depth of what caused this war, but I will leave some resources below for more information. Many Cypriots became internally displaced peoples as they lost their homes. Some estimates say around 160,000 Greek Cypriots fled to the south and some 50,000 Turkish Cypriots to the north. The north is now the Turkish Republic of Cyprus, but is only recognized as such by Turkey. This tension is still ripe, and there has been no solution made to help regain what was lost. However, it is important to note that many Cypriots consider themselves refugees because they were forced out of their homes. This could be utilized as a connecting factor between Cypriots and actual refugees. However, labeling themselves as refugees and in need of justice, Cypriots do not know what to do for those flooding their country in desperate need of the basic human necessities.

“Many who arrive at a Nicosia centre for migrants run by Caritas ‘have no idea that they are in Cyprus,’ the Catholic charity’s coordinator, Gosia Chrysanthou, said” (Connelly).

The Issues Faced by Migrants

So many were not told they were coming to Cyprus, creating even more chaos. Upon arrival, there is no choice but to stay and become asylum seekers. Asylum seekers have to wait to be recognized by the government as a refugee in the nation before they are allowed to seek a home or employment. It is a long process for the majority, especially if they have no documentation (sometimes even with documentation). Cyprus has seen a large increase of asylum seekers in the past two years, and they are struggling to grant refugee status to all who apply for it. Asylum seekers have to go through several required checkpoints before either being denied or granted refugee status. For those who are denied, they have no home and are forced to find anywhere to sleep. For those who are granted status, they receive some financial assistance from the government and are able to seek a home and a job. However, some other issues refugees face are discrimination and language barriers. Many seeking homes are denied once the homeowners discover that they are refugees. It is also quite difficult to be employed in Cyprus if you do not speak Greek, making it even harder for refugees to acquire jobs. One of the most prominent injustices on the island, because it’s so easy to bring people to Cyprus, is that there’s a wide-open door for human trafficking to take place. Forcibly displaced peoples leave the injustices of their own country only to encounter a wall of many more here in Cyprus. We have the opportunity to be a light in the midst of great darkness.

“It’s because I’m a goofball. Do you know the word ‘goofball’?” I ask Joy, a refugee from Iraq. She gives an intrigued look and lights up with a smile. She loves learning new English words, so I thought it would be good to teach her one I use all the time. “If you call someone a goofball, it’s like saying they are silly.” Later, as we’re playing volleyball together, she completely misses the ball. I call over to her, “Joy, you’re a goofball!” She lets out a bubbly laugh.

Joy’s entire family came over from Iraq. Although I do not know their story, I have seen the struggle of their family. A staff member at the refugee center told us that they are having difficulty coping with the trauma of coming to Cyprus. “When one family member breaks a leg,” she said, “the rest are able to help them get around. But, when every family member has a broken leg, they cannot help one another. They can’t help each other to cope if they’re struggling to cope on their own.” I get to see Joy’s laughter because it is her method of surviving. Even I have had the question run through my mind, “How do I help her?”

This does not even scratch the surface of what asylum seekers and refugees face. They are doing everything they can to survive. I can’t do much, but I can play volleyball with them. I can laugh with them about my language skills. I can allow them to teach me their culture. I can play games with them. I can listen. I can pray, and I can be their friend. Now, I’m realizing that these are the most important things. I have a hope and joy to give to those who have lost theirs. I have been humbled and blessed to spend time with these beautiful people, and I now know that helping them is more than just giving physical and material assistance. It is loving them through their hurt and need, being in relationship with them as they heal. If you feel like I did, that the increase in refugees and asylum seekers is such a big, multi-layered issue, and you’re too small to do anything about it, please meditate on this truth: it is all about the one. You can laugh with them. You can listen to them. You can play games with them. You can be their friend. You can love them. You can pray.

You can be their friend. You can pray.

Resources

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