Brussels, 04/04/2013 (Agence Europe) - With the finalisation of the austerity plan for Cyprus (EUROPE 10819), Caritas Europa, the confederation of Catholic organisations, made an appeal on Thursday 4 April, to ensure that the forthcoming austerity measures do not affect the most vulnerable people on the island. Caritas's position is drawn less from a theological virtue, that of charity, and more from its study of the socio-economic consequences of previous austerity policies in countries receiving financial assistance.
According to the organisation, the result is categorical. During a crisis, when a government promotes a macro-economic project irrespective of the social circumstances, it undermines the confidence of the people and destroys the country's social balance. Jorge Nuño Mayer, the secretary general of Caritas Europa, explained that the organisation's experience on the ground, “in their daily work in the countries that have received financial assistance under the IMF/ECB programmes, is that the main burden of the austerity measures and cuts is borne by the most vulnerable groups”.
This is a mistake that is repeated again and again and Jorge Nuño Mayer is afraid that once again, the most vulnerable sections of society will be hit. The situation for Cypriots has only just begun to get worse, as borne out by the rates of unemployment over the past year, which have risen from 10.2% to 14%. Jurgo Nuño Mayer is requesting that, “these pre-existing circumstances should be taken into consideration when any revision of the social welfare system is taking place in Cyprus as part of planned reforms” to prevent the worst impact being “borne by people who did not cause the crisis”. (JK/trans.fl)