In Cyprus, the number of children evacuated to Greece may have exceeded 5,000
In Cyprus, the number of unaccompanied children who were taken to Greece between 1974 and 1979 may have exceeded 5,000, although official records list around 2,000. Andreas Theodosiou, head of the association “Children Hosted in Greece in 1974,” said this at a meeting of the parliamentary committee on refugees, Cyprus Mail reports.
The association’s estimate
According to Theodosiou, official registers contain data on approximately 2,000 children, but the association’s research points to a significantly higher number. He suggested that the discrepancy may have arisen because children who left Cyprus unofficially at the time — with parents, relatives or other people trying to leave the island after the Turkish invasion — were not officially registered.
The association is conducting its own research to identify such people. Theodosiou said that the first group of children departed for Greece on September 21, 1974. According to official data, there were 192 children on board, but the association estimates that their number may have exceeded 600.
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Further work
The children were accommodated in villages in the Peloponnese, the suburbs of Athens and Thessaloniki. Theodosiou also said that the association had submitted other research findings to the committee, but they are still being documented and therefore cannot yet be made public.
The committee’s chair, AKEL MP Nikos Kettirós, noted the association’s work in Cyprus and Greece, including visits to schools and public events. According to him, the organization plans to create a “child of 1974” museum, which is intended to highlight the experiences of minors affected by the war, as well as the issue of missing persons and rape victims.
Alma MP Litsa Drusiotou said that no complete official register or confirmed number exists for children hosted in Greece during that period. In her view, this part of Cyprus’ history is largely unknown to the public, and the state should convey it to younger generations.
