Indicator history

No, but in previous years migrant oragnisations complained to the Equality Body of excessive police force and police violence in areas with high migrant concentration. At the time, the Equality Body had recommended the hiring of members of ethnic/migrant communities  to the police force in an effort to ease tensions between the police and migrant organisations and increase the levels of acceptance of the police by migrant organisations, but this recomendation was not implemented.

In current years, it is well known that there is little or no policing inside the areas known as the 'migrants' ghettos', hence the regular racial attacks by fascist groups against migrants in these areas. The only policing done of those areas are the police operations referred to as "Skoupa" which means broom, and which are basically stop and search operations intended to locate undocumented migrants.

The lack of policing of areas with high migrant concentration creates conditions of impunity for the anti-immigrant groups to develop criminal activity in those areas. In November 2011, a press report about a racist violent incident against an unsuspecting Indian man by unknown young men riding a van without number plates and holding metallic bats, prompted a self initiated investigation by the Equality Body. It emerged that the incident took place on 26.08.2011 and that between 25-28.08.2011 a number of other attacks took place in the same area most probably by the same perpetrators; according to the police report, although some of these attacks were against Cypriots, the circumstances were such that the assailants probably mistook the Cypriots for foreigners and so attacked them. The Equality Body report (dated 02.11.2011, Ref. ΑΚR/ΑΥΤ. 2/2011) deplored the fact that no charges were pressed against anybody in respect of any racial incidents and recommended a comprehensive plan of action to improve and upgrade the system of preventing and investigating racist violence.