Legal Advisor and Director of the Expats’ Consultancy Service, Havva Karabeyaz, has spoken about the plight of British citizens normally resident in North Cyprus and unable to return, during the coronavirus pandemic.
Karabeyaz, who provides consultancy services to British people living in North Cyprus, noted that she had received many similar complaints from people who had gone abroad for some reason and could not return to the island due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Karabeyaz said that some of the people who have been living in the north for many years had gone to their home towns for health, travel and other reasons before March 10, when Covid-19 was first detected, but could not return.
She explained the difficulties of her clients as follows:
“Many of my clients are victims of this issue, but they do not want to make a statement because they are afraid. All they want is to be able to return to their homes as soon as possible. These people have been living in the north of Cyprus for years, they have bought a house here, they have built a life for themselves.
“For example, one of my clients travelled to England on 2 March, thinking she would return on 12 March. With the coronavirus discovered on March 10, Pegasus accepted only TRNC citizens on their, they did not accept anyone who was British. However, these people have a residence permit and all their lives are here. Now in the UK, they are staying with relatives because their home is here. No matter how many times these people bought tickets, there was misunderstanding and uncertainty.”
Speaking in parliament yesterday, the Minister of Transport and Communications, Tolga Atakan, said that the restrictions imposed by the cabinet on flights were valid until May 15.
Yeniduzen
