MPs hear refugees forced to sell land to IPC to make ends meet

Refugees are being pushed into selling their properties in the occupied north through the Immovable Property Commission (IPC) to pay for their children’s studies, House refugee committee chairman Nikos Kettiros said on Tuesday. The commission operates in the north and is not recognised by the Republic as a legitimate compensatory institution. Kettiros recalled a 75-year-old grandmother having told him she would sell her plots in Famagusta to fund her granddaughter’s education as she could not secure the money elsewhere. “The woman was crying and told me that she would resort to the so-called compensation committee or others to secure the money,” he said. He said he had also received a letter from a refugee on the issue and had passed it to the agency for the equal distribution of burdens, which handles the loans. He called on the government to say whether its policy was to avoid helping refugees borrow through the agency, which he said left them “in limbo”. Kettiros focused on the rule that every applicant must name four creditworthy co-debtors to guarantee repayment. In one case, he said, a refugee with €2 million deposits was asked to find four guarantors. “I am ashamed to ask my employees to guarantee that I will repay my loan,” the individual told him. State officials said many loans are non-performing, which is why four creditworthy co-borrowers are required. They said the aim is to ensure public money is not lost. Kettiros and other MPs said refugees should be helped to obtain loans and not met with obstacles. They asked for the number of applications rejected and the reasons for rejection. They also asked for details of the interest rate subsidy on refugee loans, after reports that it varies between cases. The agency’s chairman, Akis Pouros, said the body had been left understaffed. “I have experienced utter humiliation for five years,” he said. The agency asked for five staff and was given one, and could not cope with serving refugees, he said. He said it was wrong that the agency’s board carried the burden of decisions when policy depended on others.