Font size down Font size up
  • Go

Cyprus: Prospects remain dim of political resolution to change situation of IDPs

cyp_cp_jun09
Greek Cypriot family who has lived in this Turkish Cypriot house since fleeing the north in 1974. (Photo: IDMC/Nadine Walicki, March 2009)
  • Country Statistics
  • Latest IDP figure:
  • Up to 208,000
  • Number of refugees:
  • (Originating from the country)
    13 (UNHCR, June 2011)
  • Total Population:
  • 0.9 million

Download pdf version
31 December 2010

People were last displaced in Cyprus as a result of conflict in 1974. Groups backed by Greece’s military junta ousted the Cypriot leader and Turkey sent troops to the island in response. The island has since been effectively divided between areas under the control of the government of the Republic of Cyprus (GRC) and the authorities of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), the latter recognised only by Turkey. The conflict is still unresolved and the return of IDPs to their original homes remains impossible despite continuing negotiations.

The TRNC maintains that there are no IDPs in areas under its control, on the basis that internal displacement ended with a 1975 population exchange agreement. The GRC reported at the end of 2010 that around 208,000 people had displaced person status in the area under its control, including 83,000 people born to men with the displaced status.

In areas under the control of the GRC, people with dis- placed person status continued to be eligible for assistance. Discrimination in access to the status continued, as the children of women with the status were not eligible. In 2010, the Supreme Court reserved judgement on the validity of constitutional amendments to rectify this discrimination. Meanwhile, displaced people living in the TRNC received no assistance.

During 2010, steps were taken to uphold the rights of people dispossessed of their property. The European Court of Human Rights confirmed the Immovable Property Commission (IPC) of the TRNC as the first instance body for claims to property in TRNC territory. By the end of 2010, the IPC had concluded and mostly implemented

over 135 of some 850 applications lodged. For its part, the GRC amended the Turkish Cypriot properties law, so that Turkish Cypriot owners living outside TRNC could claim their property in areas under the control of the GRC.




Previous Profile updates


News 
Sad island story, Economist.com, 31 March 2011
IPC deadline officially extended, Cyprus Mail, 8 December 2011
More
Relevant Reports 
IPC deadline officially extended, Cyprus Mail, 8 December 2011
European Court of Human Rights and the Cyprus Property Issue: Charting a Way Forward, International Peace Research Institute (PRIO), 17 October 2011
More