More than 5,000 unaccompanied Cypriot children may have been transferred to and hosted in Greece between 1974 and 1979, compared with an officially recorded figure of 2,000, figures presented on Tuesday before the parliamentary committee on refugees indicate.
The figures were presented by Andreas Theodosiou, president of the Association of Unaccompanied Children Hosted in Greece 1974-1979.
Speaking after the committee meeting, Theodosiou said official data from the Ministry of Education put the number of children at 2,000. However, he said Ministry records also point to another figure, which exceeds 5,000.
He attributed the discrepancy to the fact that many children left for Greece at the time without being officially registered, as parents, relatives or other people accompanied or transported them in an effort to remove them from the conditions prevailing in Cyprus following the Turkish invasion.
He said the association, through its activities and research, is identifying people who were children at the time and were transferred to Greece but were not included in the official records.
Theodosiou said the first group of children left for Greece on Sept. 21, 1974, and, according to official figures from the Ministry of Education, comprised 192 children.
He added, that in his estimate and based on information being collected through the association’s research, the number of children in the first group may have exceeded 600.
Finally, he said children from that period were transferred, among other places, to Ilia, Kareas, Volos and Thessaloniki, adding that testimonies continue to emerge from people who say they were sent to Greece at the time without being officially registered.