Cyprus a state under attack from itself

The Republic of Cyprus since its entry into the European Union in October 2005 has faced an unprecedented increase in crime, domestic unrest, a massive hike in immigrant arrivals and in general a fundamental demographic change on the Mediterranean island.

An analysis of the last 6 months headlines and news from the Cypriot media has shown stories ranging from attacks on the islands Police force Cyprus Mail 16/10/07 "Lucky escape for policeman as bomb fails to go off", to stories of farmers striking, a rise of fraud "Crime gang conning store owners with fake cheques" to a general upward trend in crime and disorder.

Statistics from the Justice Ministry in Cyprus shows that a new rise in the number of serious crimes committed in Cyprus, from 7,250 in 2005, to 7,955 last year, an increase of almost 10 per cent.The Cyprus Mail said "even more concern is the longer-term trend, which shows an increase in serious crime of 67 per cent since 2002. In 2002, there were just two murders, compared to 14 last year, 131 rapes compared to 30 last year, 1,228 break-ins to 3,082 in 2006, 948 thefts to 1,618… The list goes on."

"Police are struggling to cope ...the police’s efforts also need to be understood in the perspective of the means at their disposal. Crime has almost doubled in the past four years, yet their resources and manpower has not kept pace."

The Cyprus Mail Immigration figures released by the Cypriot Government have shown around 150,000 new entrants to the island, with a population of 800,000 this is a massive increase for the island and its resources.

Cyprus also has the unenviable record of being the only member state of the European Union which is illegal occupied by a foreign nation, Turkey.