Committee hears more than 5,000 children may have been evacuated to Greece after 1974 invasion

Nicosia, Cyprus. More than 5,000 unaccompanied children may have been evacuated to Greece between 1974 and 1979, more than double the officially recorded figure of 2,000, the House refugee committee heard on Tuesday.

Andreas Theodosiou, head of the Children that were hosted in Greece in 1974 group, said the discrepancy may be linked to children who left Cyprus informally following the Turkish invasion.

Association research

Theodosiou told the committee that official records placed the number of children evacuated to Greece at 2,000, while the association’s research indicated that the total may have exceeded 5,000.

He said some children were taken to Greece by parents, relatives or others seeking to escape conditions after the invasion, without being formally registered. The association has been conducting research to identify these individuals.

The first group of children left for Greece on September 21, 1974, with official records showing that 192 children were aboard, Theodosiou said. According to the association’s findings, the actual number may have exceeded 600.

Destinations and further findings

Children were sent to villages in the Peloponnese, suburbs of Athens and Thessaloniki.

Theodosiou said the association had submitted further findings to the committee, but these remained under documentation and could not yet be made public.

Museum plans

Committee chairman and Akel MP Nikos Kettiros commended the association for its work in Cyprus and Greece, including school visits and public events intended to raise awareness of what he described as a chapter of Cypriot history.

Kettiros said the association was planning a museum dedicated to “the child of 1974”, covering the experiences of minors affected by the war, including children of missing persons and victims of rape.