Cyprus police have announced the arrest of 13 individuals following a violent turn of events during an anti-migrant march that resulted in a mob vandalizing storefronts and setting trash bins ablaze in the coastal resort city of Limassol. The authorities confirmed that five people were injured during the protest, which involved approximately 500 individuals.
On Friday evening, a group of people wearing hoods reportedly targeted migrants and their businesses in Limassol. Amateur video footage aired on local news outlets and websites showed damaged storefronts, burning trash bins, and protesters chanting anti-immigrant slogans.
Law enforcement used water cannons to disperse the protesters, some of whom displayed a banner reading “Refugees not welcome.”
These events transpired amid growing tensions over an influx of migrants on the Mediterranean island, where officials are struggling to manage the numbers. Cyprus, an EU member state, claims to be on the “frontline” of the Mediterranean migrant route. Recent data indicates that the island nation has the highest number of first-time asylum applications among all 27 EU member countries.
According to Cypriot officials, migrants account for six percent of the population, more than five times the average proportion in other EU member states.
During Friday night’s march, at least five individuals sustained injuries due to the unrest. All five have received treatment at the hospital and have been released. Law enforcement officers also arrested 13 people, including the alleged organizer of the march.
Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides condemned the violence, referring to it as “images of shame.” He attributed the violence to a group of petty criminals with no genuine connection to the migration issue, stating that the actions insulted the country.
In response to the violent anti-migrant march, a pro-immigrant demonstration has been planned for Saturday evening.
This incident occurred shortly after a group of Greek Cypriots, wearing hoods and armed with bats, attempted to attack protesting Syrians in a small village where tensions had escalated between locals and migrants. Police had previously arrested around two dozen people in connection with that violence, which occurred four days earlier in the southeastern village of Chloraka. Parallel protests by approximately 250 Syrians and an equal number of Greek Cypriots had deteriorated into violence during that incident.
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