Civil society organisations in Cyprus report that asylum seekers and other migrants are being arrested for failing to comply with restrictive measures. This is due to the fact that they face practical challenges to complying with restrictive measures designed to limit the spread of COVID, due to lack of interpretation and translation of official guidance and insecure and unsafe living conditions. There have been documented cases of these people being placed in pre-trial detention where the risk of infection increases. Alternatively, authorities move them from their housing to closed refugee camps and detention centers, where they face isolation from lawyers and community members and where conditions are reportedly unsafe.
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