The disastrous state of a hotel that welcomed migrants without water or electricity

At the heart of the former three-star St Nicholas Elegant Residence near Paphos (Cyprus), once a tourist favorite, lies a scene of devastation. The site, renamed the Ayios Nikolaos apartment complex, housed over 600 asylum seekers. Videos show garbage strewn about, pools drained of water and walls that were once yellow but are now covered in graffiti. The migrants lived there without water or electricity. Following tensions with locals and protests, police began evicting the migrants, originally ordered in 2020 for health and safety reasons. The island of Cyprus, considered a frontline for migrants in the Mediterranean, sees asylum seekers represent 5% of its population