Hard-working, tax-paying third country national poised for deportation
“I need to be released from here,” was the last message received by the Cyprus Mail from Katina Baird, the Larnaca restaurateur (owner of Katina’s Tasty Food Caribbean restaurant) who finds herself in Menoyia migrant detention centre, awaiting deportation.
Her detention is completely illegal, according to Baird’s lawyer Elias Christou – above all because she has a court case pending, and can’t be deported till she’s had an opportunity to defend herself.
Baird’s case is fairly straightforward, says Christou.
For a third-country national to remain in Cyprus as a family member of an EU citizen, she has to stay married for three years. After that, the right of residence remains unaffected, even if the marriage breaks down.
This was the situation with Baird, who was born in Guyana but was married (pre-Brexit) to a British man.
Unfortunately (even though the couple were together for longer), the actual marriage lasted only two years and 11 months. However, the law makes a clear exception to the three-year rule in cases of domestic violence.
Baird had filed a police complaint alleging violence before the couple separated. Soon after, she opened her restaurant, which became very popular with locals.
“Katina is a very good person,” says Christou. “She’s a member of our community in Larnaca, loved and appreciated by everyone”.
Despite the circumstances, “when she went [to the department of migration] to submit her papers, as a divorcee, and asked for status to keep working in Cyprus, they refused to give it”, and instead declared her an illegal migrant.
“Following that decision, we submitted both a hierarchical application to the minister and – after not replying to us – an administrative application to the Court to declare the decision unlawful and abusive towards her rights.”
The case is due to be tried in October.
Even though the application is still pending, however – and despite the special circumstances of being a business owner (and a taxpayer), having been married to an EU citizen, having lived in Cyprus for years, being a respected member of the community, and so forth – Baird was arrested by the police on Wednesday, locked up in Menoyia and also treated, she says, in a “dehumanising” way.
“I repeatedly tried to explain that I had a pending court case related to my residence status, but no-one would listen,” she told the Cyprus Mail.
“I was ignored and denied the opportunity to speak or present the relevant documents. I was treated as if I had no legal standing or identity.”
Before ending up in the detention centre, she was transported from Larnaca to Oroklini police station, then spent the night in an “extremely confined” holding cell in Paphos.
At one point, “I was subjected to inappropriate and unprofessional behaviour by officers, including being laughed at and told dismissively ‘This is Cyprus’ as a way of justifying the situation”.
Later, she says, “I was confronted by an aggressive police officer. When I calmly asked whether the use of handcuffs was necessary, he responded ‘It’s for criminals like you’. I asserted that I am not a criminal, but a hard-working individual who respects and follows the laws of Cyprus.
“In response, the officer turned away and laughed at me.”
One can only speculate if Baird would’ve been treated better if she were a third-country national from a more ‘acceptable’ third country, as opposed to a black woman from Guyana.
The bigger picture, says Christou, is that what’s happening to Baird is not an isolated case. In fact, the decision to try and deport her is “a political decision”.
“It’s not just Katina,” he claims. “It’s all the people who have applications pending, so that the government can save money…
“This is the state of democracy in Cyprus today.”