Research Unit in Behaviour and Social Issues - Nicosia, Cyprus

Our mission is to improve understanding of the processes and mechanisms which influence the health and well-being of the Cypriot population.

Ethnicity and Race in Contemporary Cyprus

Policy and Practice: Ethnicity and Race in Contemporary Cyprus

The research began in January 2006 and was completed in Dec 2007

Funders/ Contributors

Host Organization: RUBSI

Funding: Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation

Scientific Coordinator

Dr Constantinos Phellas, Director of RUBSI and Associate Professor at School of Humanities, Social Sciences & Law, Intercollege, and Director of RUBSI, Nicosia, Cyprus

Coordinator

Dr Mike Hadjimike, Assistant Professor, School of Humanities, Social Sciences & Law,  Intercollege, Nicosia, Cyprus.

Partners

• Professor John Solomos, City University, UK.
• Dr Liza Schuster, City University, London, UK.
• Dr David Officer, Assistant Professor, School of Humanities, Social Sciences & Law, Intercollege, Nicosia, Cyprus.
• Dr Tao Papaioannou, Assistant Professor, School of Humanities, Social Sciences & Law, Intercollege, Nicosia, Cyprus.

Background Information

Over the last three decades Cyprus has experienced many socio-demographic changes. This research project aimed to analyse these in depth with regard to issues of discrimination based on ‘race’ and / or ‘ethnicity’. It is estimated that there are approximately 80,000 people in the Republic of Cyprus who are of non-Cypriot origin – representing 10% of the total population. These people vary in terms of economic class, ethnic origin, residence, and occupational status. It has often been argued that discrimination based on particular grounds, such as race, ethnicity, gender, or creed can be an elusive subject matter for the social scientist, as most people, particularly in decision-making positions may not openly profess to being opinionated in a negative and partial manner.

The policy and practice survey with regard to ethnicity and race in contemporary Cyprus assessed how different people in society view discrimination. This was done through in depth interviews with people who have experienced discrimination. In turn these findings will be contrasted with questionnaires carried out amongst people who allegedly discriminate. This double edged methodological approach aims to explore both the ‘lived’ and ‘perceived’ experience of discrimination, along with the dimension that is often ignored, namely its operational practice.

In addition a thorough analysis was conducted regarding past and present policies on issues of racial and ethnic inequality. These policies were also contrasted with our EU partners with the end aim of making an in-depth comparative analysis. After combining this with our interview results suggestions were made on policy changes, improvements and the adoption of more suitable codes of practice. Professor John Solomos, a distinguished overseas scientist of Cypriot origin, was the head of our research team. As one of Europe’s leading academic authorities on this subject matter, Professor John Solomos, with a team of experts from City University London worked in collaboration with our host team of academics and researchers in Cyprus.  By working with our colleagues at City University we believe there will be an enhanced value for Cyprus through connecting with their experienced academic and research infrastructure on issues of race, ethnicity and discrimination. This has also been of great benefit to our team of researchers in Cyprus. By enabling them to work on such a project we contributed to not only raising the academic profile of the Host Organisation but also to improving the society we live in through constructive and dynamic policy changing research. 

The project had the following objectives:

1. Reviewing all the literature and statistics with the intention of providing a solid background on the subject matter. A literature review like this has not been conducted to date and we believe it is a prerequisite objective of any in depth study on discrimination in Cyprus.
2. Raising both academic awareness and encouraging debate on issues of discrimination on ethnic and racial grounds through the contribution of Professor John Solomos as a Distinguished Overseas Academic.
3. Analysing the existence of different groupings in contemporary Cyprus through ‘official’ and ‘unofficial’ categorical definitions with the intention of contrasting how people are defined ‘officially’ with how they define themselves in terms of group identity. The latter is important in understanding the evolution of identity through cultural and organizational activities as indicators of group affiliation and behaviour.
4. Examining discrimination as both a lived, personal experience and as a form of institutionalised practice. This is a key objective for our team, as we believe it is important not to limit this study to a mere summation of subjective individual accounts. Such an approach would simply trivialize individual accounts without placing them in their appropriate societal context. Inequality and discrimination based on race and ethnicity are realities that need to be addressed and rectified.
5. Devising a methodological approach that can be calibrated to the previous objective. One that is grounded in ‘lived’ experiences through in depth interviews.
6. Comparing and contrasting local policies on racial and ethnic discrimination with those in our partner EU states. This was  done with reference to codes of practice, the existence or non-existence of Racial Equality or Equal Opportunity Commissions and involvement in political processes (such as voting rights, political party and union membership).
7. Recommending concrete policy changes that could be applied to eliminate forms of ethnic and racial discrimination in Cyprus. This research project can make effective and viable proposals for key government officials, organisations and policy makers.
8. Disseminating findings through academic conferences, an Internet web page, mass media channels and organisations that campaign against racial and ethnic discrimination.
9. Contributing to the foundation and development of new monitoring mechanisms and infrastructures in Cyprus, based on EU policies and practices that will challenge and alleviate the persistence of forms of discrimination on racial or ethnic grounds.
10. Developing future avenues for pan-European initiatives that link research in Cyprus with academic colleagues and organisations in the rest of the EU.

Project’s Innovation

The innovation in this project is multifaceted. In the first instance having a widely respected Distinguished Overseas Scientist such as Professor John Solomos to head the research team is a major asset not only to the research but to the wider academic social sciences community in Cyprus.  It is the first time that such a high ranking academic is involved in this field of research in Cyprus.

Additionally, issues of race and ethnicity in Cyprus with regard to discrimination are often taken for granted through both a lack of policy and some times lack of awareness on the implications of existing policy and practice. When these realities are placed against the backdrop of our recent EU accession, it is apparent that in many ways there is much room for improvement. Our study reveals issues of discrimination with regard to race and ethnicity through an in depth qualitative epistemological analysis – which up till now has not been conducted in contemporary Cyprus.

The expert research team shares the opinion that Cypriot society is changing demographically and we do not only interpret and reflect these changes but also suggest ways, through the development of new policies, in which inequality with regard to race and ethnicity can be alleviated and avoided. It is in this final mission that we believe this project has a valuable innovative dimension, as it offers recommendations for policy to become more reflective of diverse needs and situations. This quality is central to the research process. By locating Cyprus in a comparative EU context the research’s findings will be better equipped to improve practices, develop policies and infrastructures that are more in line with an EU anti-discrimination environment.

Project’s Methodology

The research project utilized both quantitative and qualitative research methods as we believe a combined approach is more suitable to the subject matter. In trying to analyse how people are discriminated against on ethnic or racial grounds it is important to devise a methodology that is:

• Sensitive to people’s individual lived experiences of discrimination
• Effective in its analysis of the societal dimensions of these forms of discrimination
• Offers concrete proposals for making changes in policy and practice.

This is achieved in the following ways:

A thorough quantitative analysis of official immigration statistics has been carried out. This is supplemented with an analysis of past and present policies on immigration in Cyprus. These findings were also contrasted with how people within different groups in society view themselves in terms of their own identity and position in Cyprus.

A qualitative analysis was then carried out in three stages:

Contacts were made with community groups and associations and focus groups took place with the intention of understanding better these diverse communities and their specific concerns and problems. These focus groups were held in different locations and were facilitated via key figures in our research team. They also acted as a means of building trust and communication with different communities, thus enabling the research team to be more accepted in the interview stage of the project

In depth interviews with a representative sample of people who have had first hand experiences of discrimination on ethnic or racial grounds. This included 300 participant interviewees selected from different communities. These interviews were semi-structured, with key areas of exploration on specific themes concerning exclusion and inclusion in society. For example initial experiences in the host country, encounters with government institutions, and employers. Data from these interviews were then processed with the intention of exploring specific areas of common concern or anxiety expressed by the participants on specific issues concerning institutions and organisations.

Following on from this, questionnaires were carried out with people in institutions and organisations, based on the findings of the first 300 in depth interviews. These questionnaires were more structured containing a range of hypothetical optional situations on different people in society (divided along ethnic/racial lines).

The findings of both questionnaires were compared and contrasted with the objective of tracing commonalities, differences, tendencies and co-relations. They were central to the second phase of the research project (i.e. in-depth study of EU state polices) as well as to the final recommendations on policy improvement and new codes of practice to be finalised through this project.

The results of the study were presented on the 19th of December 2007 (see News)