Over a dozen arrested in anti-migrant protests in Greek-administered Cyprus

Thirteen people have been arrested at an anti-migrant march in Greek-administered Cyprus that turned violent with mobs vandalising property.

Five people were injured during the unrest that broke out on Friday evening in the coastal resort city of Limassol after a group of people, had taken to the streets for the march against foreign nationals, the police said on Saturday.

Among those arrested was the alleged organiser of the march.

About 500 demonstrators, consisting mostly of members of the far-right and racist National People's Front (ELAM), gathered in the Molos area to protest against migrants.

Some individuals in the group, carrying banners with slogans such as "Cyprus is Greek" and "Migrants, you are not welcome," attacked businesses and restaurants in the area, with a number of shops and vehicles set on fire.

The violence erupted only four days after a group of Greek Cypriots wearing hoods and brandishing bats tried to attack protesting Syrians in a small village that has been a hotbed of tensions between locals and migrants.

'Images of shame'

Greek-administered Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides condemned what he called “images of shame,” suggesting that the violence was the product of a group of petty criminals with no real connection to the migration situation.

“What we saw last night had nothing to do with the migration issue and we shouldn’t confuse the two,” Christodoulides told reporters.

“If all these people who were involved loved or cared about their country, they wouldn’t have committed such acts which above all heap shame on it.”

The Greek Cypriot president said authorities in the last six months have both managed to significantly curb migrant arrivals and increase repatriations while expediting asylum applications to the tune of 80 percent.

Christodoulides said the government would “stand by” the owners of the stores damaged in the violence and has called a meeting with police officials to discuss what happened during the march.

Tensions over a large influx of migrants have been simmering in the region where authorities have struggled to cope with the numbers.

Officials have repeatedly said migrants comprise some 6 percent of the island’s population, more than five times that of the average in other European Union member nations. where authorities have struggled to cope with the numbers.

In the last 16 years, 413 racist attacks and incidents have been taken to court in the Greek Cypriot administration, and 125 cases related to these matters are still pending in the courts, according to daily Politis.