As the National Federation of Cypriots in UK, we mobilised UK Cypriots to vote remain. The community listened. The referendum results show a high turnout and remain vote in areas where Cypriots live. Therefore, the outcome has deeply saddened our community as it is likely to adversely impact both UK Cypriots and also Cyprus (not discussed in this OpEd). The “leave” vote however did highlight the concerns of a large disenfranchised part of society that needs to be addressed.
Cyprus and the UK have strong bilateral relations that were enhanced by Cyprus’ EU accession. Whilst it is difficult to forecast the consequences, Brexit will likely affect the ~300,000 UK Cypriots in both the short term, if the UK economy weakens and the British pound continues to devalue, and the long term depending on the final ‘exit agreement’.
In the short term, if the shock to the UK economy that we have witnessed continues, it will impact UK Cypriots in similar ways to the rest of the UK. People are worried about their jobs and the effect of market turbulence on their incomes, investments and businesses. Cypriot students in the UK (~10,000), who usually stay on to work after their studies are also likely to find it harder to secure jobs given the economic uncertainty.
The devaluation of the pound will impact the ~1.1M UK tourists that visit Cyprus every year as holidays to the island will become more expensive. Whilst this season’s holidays have largely been pre-sold, visitors are likely to spend less on the island. Moreover, UK importers of Cypriot goods (~10% of Cypriot exports), have seen prices rise, a cost that will potentially be passed onto the end customer. In fact, a Cypriot importer told me that his costs have increased 6% since the referendum. A deplorable consequence of the referendum is that it has emboldened racists to attack minorities and we continue to monitor this within our diaspora.
In the long term, the outlook is uncertain. The exit agreement will take up to 2 years from the point that Article 50 is triggered. Therefore people should remain calm because until then, the status quo (e.g. freedom of movement, trade) still prevails. In relation to immigration and trade, there may be an impact on the freedom of movement, rights and protections and mutual recognition of qualifications of British Cypriots as well as tariffs/restrictions on UK exports and imports. Obviously, one way for UK Cypriots to retain the freedom of movement is to apply for a Cypriot passport. Finally, Cypriot students currently pay the same tuition fees as British nationals. Although it is unlikely the referendum result will impact the fee arrangements of current students, future students may be impacted.
However, the people have spoken and we must respect the outcome of the referendum. As a Federation we will continue to work closely with the UK and Cypriot Governments to safeguard our collective interests.
Christos Karaolis, President, National Federation of Cypriots UK