Police in Cyprus arrested 21 people on Monday amid fierce clashes between migrants and local residents in Chloraka, a village west of Nicosia.
The arrests came following a second day of disturbances, after migrants held a peaceful protest to oppose violence directed against them on Sunday.
Cyprus’ President Nikos Christodoulides condemned the violence in the village, adding that he had spoken to the local chief of police to stress that “ensuring public order, the sense of security of citizens is non-negotiable.”
After the sit-in protest, police had to separate fighting groups of migrants and locals with teargas and water cannons. Later, flying stones and burning trash cans and cars were reported, leading to arrests. One of the 21 arrested was Greek, eight were Greek Cypriots and 12 were migrants, local media reports.
There were no civilian injuries. However, one policeman was injured, a police spokesperson said.
Last week, migrants were evicted from a building complex where they were living without running water or electricity.
On Sunday, clashes broke out for the first time, as anti-immigration protesters descended on the complex, calling for the removal of asylum seekers and setting fire to trash cans, according to local reports.
Police have responded with anti-riot squads in an attempt to calm the situation and to keep the two groups separated.
