In 1974, almost 200,000 Greek Cypriot refugees left their ancestral homes and found themselves wandering, looking for shelter, food and work. The elderly, young couples and children, have started an uphill course of providing the basic necessities which for some lasts until today.
My grandfather, with his wife and five children, picked up the little cash he had at his house in Famagusta and sought temporary security in relatives' houses, first in Limassol and then in Nicosia, not knowing then how he would see again. his house 40 years later, as a visitor.
Under the unfavorable conditions of the refugees, our desperate fellow citizens who lost the world under their feet overnight, had to find a way to rebuild their lives to take the best care of their exhausted elderly parents and their terrified children. .
Many of our refugees breathed their last unjustly in anticipation of the day they would return home. The fervent desire of all refugees certainly remains their return to their homes and possessions to continue their life from where they left it, to the place where they were born.
This is what the effort of our side must continue to aim at when we talk about a just solution to the Cyprus problem.
Today, 47 years later, the coveted solution remains as far away as ever and the social injustice brought about by the invasion has never really been addressed. The research of the economic research unit of the University of Cyprus, which was prepared for the central body of equal distribution of burdens, in order to measure the cost of the Turkish invasion and to distribute this cost equally to all, presents the real cost of the invasion for them. refugees.
According to the survey, the value of refugee losses as of 2009 was about 140 billion euros, with the value of private property in the occupied territories amounting to 113 billion euros and the cost of use loss to 27 billion euros. What they received from state aid was estimated at about 6 billion.
On the other hand, the value of land in the free zones increased more than 40 times, based on 1974 prices, with much of the increase due to high demand for land from refugees, allowing non-refugees to benefit from the huge price increase.
It is clear that the cost of non-solution is terribly high for refugees. Refugees have a moral right to be sure that, when our politicians negotiate, they always have in mind exactly this great cost.
Some politicians base their political careers on patriotism. It has been proven that this does not serve the interests of refugees. Some other politicians have built careers with the Cyprus problem, cultivating the expectation that it is possible to return to the pre-1974 situation, thus maintaining the refugees' hope of returning, and postponing all these years in practice the implementation of equal distribution. weights.
Our politicians must face the Cyprus problem in the light of the losses of a huge portion of the population and make the restoration of social justice a priority. This should be the most basic parameter for the mentality with which the solution efforts should be evaluated, always at the same time ensuring that any solution model evaluated will be functional and will not allow the repetition of history.
The issue of the obligation of the state to ensure the fair restitution of refugees for the loss of their property is relevant, either with or without a solution. The refugees, equal citizens of the state, were allowed to pay the invasion bill, while some benefited. Reimbursement plans should already be evaluated from sources such as excise duty on real estate, property whose value has multiplied as a result of the asylum. And in the future, why not, using gas revenues, if and when that happens.
Most important of all, should be the demonstration of political consistency for the solution of the Cyprus problem in a way that restores social justice, primarily for refugees.
Nikolas Papadakis
Candidate for Member of Parliament for Famagusta
Ecologists 'Movement - Citizens' Cooperation