Most people try to spend as little time in airports as possible. They
are usually overcrowded, hugely expensive and unpleasant places that
you just have to put up with for a few hours before leaving. That isn’t
the case for two women though, who have effectively been trapped in
Larnaca Airport in Cyprus for more than 12 months.
The mother and
daughter are originally from Germany but were living in Israel when
their visas expired and they were expelled from the country. Since then,
they have been living in the airport, using the various facilities on
offer as they spent each and every day inside the building. Despite the
fact that staff knew the women were there, they could not force them to
leave as they hadn’t committed any crimes. European law prevents
authorities from being able to expel the women from Cyprus or airport
staff from removing them from the building as they have legally done
nothing wrong.
Adamos Aspris, Hermes Airport spokesman, said: “The
airport has offered to help the Germans on numerous occasions but they
have refused any aid and seem somewhat unwilling to change their
circumstances.“
