Iraqi refugees who have graduated from Cypriot universities but face unemployment have rallied outside the Interior Ministry to protest their exclusion from society.

They cannot leave Cyprus and get jobs abroad because their paperwork remains unprocessed, said KISA, an anti-racist, non-governmental organisation (NGO).

Meanwhile, they are blocked from becoming Cypriot citizens and live in a no-man’s land of uncertain status.

Their protest is on behalf of all Iraqis living in Cyprus, said the NGO.

Unfortunately, their plight is similar to around 400 asylum-seekers and refugees living in Kofinou camp, who face exactly the same fate as the Iraqis.

If they are not criminalised by the system which ties their hands, they are not re-integrated because many of them are Muslims.

This obvious discrimination on a religious basis makes absolutely no difference to the ministry’s stonewalling approach.

Human rights are universal, not national.

But Cyprus’ policies have come under criticism from the EU, which supplies millions of Euros to assist in costs and re-integration of the refugees.

The fact that this money is being misspent and mal-administered is slowly dawning on EU authorities, which have made it clear that Cyprus has a lot of work to do on its refugee policies.