Dozens of parents protested outside the Welfare Office in Paralimni on Friday morning, November 21, 2025, expressing their anger over the lack of available places in daycare centers in the area. The protest came at a time when, as they themselves complain, financial pressures are increasing, while their immediate return to work is becoming more difficult due to the inability to find safe and affordable care for their infants.
Parents claim that the situation has reached a breaking point and is frustrating, emphasizing that the cost of private options absorbs up to two-thirds of their monthly income.
Parents participated in the protest, while members of parliament, local councilors, and parliamentary candidates were present.
In his statements, the Vice President and MP of DISY Famagusta, Giorgos Karoulas, which were read on his behalf by DISY candidate Dimitris Koumis, stated that "the free Famagusta District is facing an immediate and acute problem of a lack of infant and child care structures during the months when the tourism industry is operating. Working parents are without support and without reliable solutions for their infants and children. This cannot remain without management and solution." He added that “We address an urgent appeal to the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare. To proceed immediately with the creation of the mechanisms and institutional conditions that will allow the operation of seasonal and temporary infant and child care structures in the free Famagusta District. To prepare without any delay the special seasonal care subsidy program (for licensed babysitters - childminders based on the legislation), so that tourism workers have real, applicable and immediately available support. To implement on a pan-Cypriot basis the subsidy of home care to licensed babysitters - childminders in accordance with the legislation, offering equal access to all families that support the country's economy. To offer incentives for the creation of private infant and child care facilities for day care. There is a great need! To promote and to coordinate the cooperation of Municipalities - Ministry of Education - Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare to establish a pilot program of Temporary Summer Nurseries - Childcare Centers with state funding and utilizing municipal spaces or schools.
He stressed that "the free Famagusta District bears the brunt of the tourism activity and this effort cannot continue without corresponding state care with social measures. The state has the responsibility to act now to institutionalize solutions, to support families, to strengthen society. We call on the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare to respond immediately.
The families of the free Famagusta District have no more time to wait.
It is time for action."
In his statements, DISY MP candidate Dimitris Koumis said that “today I am here, next to you, not to impress – but because justice must be heard. The problem is clear and we all know it: Kindergarten teachers, people with studies, with training, with experience, are not allowed to care for children in their own home, or are only allowed with an unacceptably low number of children, as if they are not the ones who know best how to keep a child safe.
Mr. Koumis emphasized that “all this at a time when families are looking for solutions, at a time when our society needs structures and people who can help. Instead of being supported, they are treated as if they are doing something illegal. Instead of their role being recognized, they are punished with restrictions that make no sense and do not correspond to reality.”
He noted that “what they are asking for is simple: A clear, fair, modern framework,
that allows them to work with dignity, to provide legally, and to meet a real social need of parents. They are not asking for privileges. They are asking to be able to work without fear, to utilize their knowledge, and to provide where the state currently has gaps.
In closing, he said, "That's why I'm here. Because your struggle is the struggle of all of us. It concerns families, it concerns children, it concerns our society itself. And I will continue to be by your side until it is heard loudly."
The candidate in the parliamentary elections with ELAM, Zafiro Kastanou, stated that "we stand by the parents and kindergarten teachers who are demanding their rights. Creation of nurseries. Support measures for home babysitters. Support for parents who want to work and have nowhere to leave their infants". She noted that "working parents, while healthy, are forced to leave their jobs because the state does not provide for the obvious. The competent bodies must assume their responsibility IMMEDIATELY".
