LIMASSOL: Hours before the masked men came, brandishing Cypriot flags and molotov cocktails, hushed whispers of the imminent rampage travelled down the Limassol seafront strip home to many migrant-owned businesses.
Egyptian restaurant owners rushed to bring their water pipes indoors, and a Vietnamese vendor quickly cleared their street displays of greens and sugar cane stalks.
But they couldn't hide the distinct cultural heritage each of them has proudly embraced as they have built their livelihoods on the Mediterranean island.
Egyptian restaurateur Mohammed el-Basaraty, 38, recalled, "I was standing with a neighbour and she told me to leave... 'because if they see you, a foreigner, they will beat you', she said".
He stowed away at the back of the restaurant as the men smashed the windows of the business he had built with his life savings.
"We began to hear the sound of glass breaking... After that I smelled the smell of smoke and fire."
The attack early this month came amid a surge in violence against migrants in Cyprus, which last year recorded the European Union's highest proportion of first-time asylum seekers relative to population.
Experts blame the increased mainstreaming of xenophobia in Cypriot politics and media, fuelled by the spread of disinformation and the mismanagement of the large number of people trying to reach Europe.
Just days earlier, locals near the western city of Paphos had launched a similar attack on migrants after years of friction with the hundreds of mostly Syrians living in a condemned apartment complex.
Men with crowbars and sticks could be seen in videos shared on social media, shouting "out, out" as they marched through the streets. Twenty-one people were arrested, including 12 Syrians.
Police had earlier raided the building to clear it of its residents after allegations of electricity theft spread on social media.
Despite that precedent, as well as a heavy police presence ahead of the Limassol protest, residents say little was done to intervene.
"They were more than 600 people," said Adel Hassan, 76, a local resident. "How many did the police arrest? Just 13?"
Police did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment, but police chief Stelios Papatheodorou acknowledged before parliament that the response was "slow".
Some observers have voiced suspicions that hidden under the black balaclavas were members of the extreme right-wing party Elam, a group initially formed out of Greece's now-outlawed neo-Nazi Golden Dawn.
Elam did not respond to AFP's request for comment, but the group has repeatedly denied involvement in the violence.
Their staunch anti-immigration stance has helped them gain followers, with leader Christos Christou winning six percent of the vote in February's presidential election.
But Giorgos Charalambous, a professor focused on European party politics and mobilisation at the University of Nicosia, said the violence could also be attributed to smaller far-right groups that accuse Elam of becoming too soft on immigration since achieving mainstream success.
Charalambous says overall "hate speech" has become normalised across the political spectrum, creating an atmosphere conducive to the attacks that he described as "pogroms".
"Individuals and politicians that spread fake news and racist rhetoric about immigration also come from more mainstream centre-right parties," he told AFP.
Cyprus has been at the frontlines of large-scale migrant arrivals in recent years, which have seen the government take harsher steps, including increased pushbacks, according to the Cyprus Refugee Council.
The UN refugee agency last month expressed concern after more than 100 Syrians were deported to Lebanon without adequate screening of their asylum applications.
Such steps, buffeted by the crackdown near Paphos, may have emboldened far-right activists to turn their long-standing grievances into action, observers said.
The violence has "never escalated to this, although I can't say that we haven't seen it coming," said Corina Drousitiou of the Cyprus Refugee Council.
She largely blamed the growing anti-migrant sentiment on inadequate measures by the authorities, particularly the previous government, also pointing to "the language used in official statements... which was quite evidently xenophobic".
Responding to a request for comment, the interior ministry spokesperson in the current government, which was formed in March, blamed the unrest on "accumulated problems that were exploited by anonymous accounts on social media platforms".
"In no case did the official side express any racist rhetoric," Elena Fysentzou told AFP.
For many foreigners on the island, the damage is already done.
"Things have changed. There isn't the sense of safety that we used to feel," Sayed Samir, the owner of Mr Habibi, one of the ransacked restaurants, told AFP.
It took Chu Thi Dao years of hard work to scrape together enough money to open her convenience store overlooking the Limassol waterfront.
"She wanted a better life for her children," her 17-year-old daughter, Flora, told AFP.
A video of the 35-year-old Vietnamese woman crying at her shop after the attack quickly went viral across the island, drawing solidarity and support from the community and government.
Like the Vietnamese shop, the majority of the businesses that were attacked are owned by people who had fled either unrest or dire economic conditions to settle in Cyprus years ago.
Towards the end of the conversation, Flora's eyes start to glaze over with tears. "I want to stay here and live with my mom and family," the teenager said, struggling with the notion that this dream may now be shattered.
Cyprus migrants face wave of attacks as hostility brews
https://arab.news/2wjrw
Cyprus migrants face wave of attacks as hostility brews
- Egyptian restaurant owners rushed to bring their water pipes indoors
- A Vietnamese vendor quickly cleared their street displays of greens and sugar cane stalks
Lebanon PM publishes long-awaited banking law draft
- The law stipulates that each of the state, the central bank, commercial banks and depositors will share the losses accrued as a result of the financial crisis.
- Depositors with a limit of $100,000, over the course of four years
BEIRUT: Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam published on Friday a long-awaited banking draft bill, which distributes losses from the 2019 economic crisis between banks and the state.
The draft law is a key demand from the international community, which has conditioned economic aid to Lebanon on financial reforms.
In a televised speech, Salam said “this draft law constitutes a roadmap to getting out of the crisis” that still grips Lebanon.
The draft will be discussed by the Lebanese cabinet on Monday before being sent to parliament, where it could be blocked.
The law stipulates that each of the state, the central bank, commercial banks and depositors will share the losses accrued as a result of the financial crisis.
Depositors, who lost access to their funds after the crisis, will be able to retrieve their money, with a limit of $100,000, over the course of four years.
Salam said that 85 percent of depositors had less than $100,000 in their accounts.
The wealthiest depositors will see the remainder of their money compensated by asset-backed securities.
“I know that many of you are listening today with hearts full of anger, anger at a state that abandoned you,” Salam said.
“This bill may not be perfect... but it is a realistic and fair step toward restoring rights, halting the collapse.”
- ‘Banks are angry’ -
The International Monetary Fund, which closely monitored the drafting of the bill, had previously insisted on the need to “restore the viability of the banking sector consistent with international standards” and protect small depositors.
The Associations of Banks in Lebanon criticized the draft law on Monday, saying in a statement that it contains “serious shortcomings” and harms commercial banks.
“Banks are angry because the law opens the door to them sharing any part of the losses,” said Sami Zougheib, researcher at The Policy Initiative, a Beirut-based think tank.
He told AFP that banks would have preferred that the state bear full responsibility.
The text provides for the recapitalization of failing banks, while the government’s debt to the Central Bank will be converted into bonds.
Salam said that the bill aims to “revive the banking sector” which had collapsed, giving free rein to a parallel economy based on cash transactions, which facilitate money laundering and illicit trade.
According to government estimates, the losses resulting from the financial crisis amounted to about $70 billion, a figure that is expected to have increased over the six years that the crisis was left unaddressed.
Since assuming power, Salam and President Joseph Aoun have pledged to implement the necessary reforms and legislation.
In April, Lebanon’s parliament adopted a bank restructuring law, as the previous legislation was believed to have allowed a flight of capital at the outbreak of the 2019 crisis.
The new bill stipulates that politically exposed persons and major shareholders who transferred significant capital outside the country from 2019 onwards — while ordinary depositors were deprived of their savings — must return them within three months or face fines.
The draft law could still be blocked by parliament even if the cabinet approves it.
“Many lawmakers are directly exposed as large depositors or bank shareholders, politically allied with bank owners, and unwilling to pass a law that either angers banks or angers depositors,” Zougheib said.
Politicians and banking officials have repeatedly obstructed the reforms required by the international community for Lebanon to receive financial support.
