Special constables have urged President Nikos Christodoulides to find a solution to the upcoming expiration of their contracts.

“During this difficult period, with new waves of irregular immigrants to our homeland and the new military conflict in our region, it is proven how fragile but also necessary the security of the state is,” they said.

They also called on the Council of Ministers to consider employing special constables as hourly-paid personnel as an alternative solution, stressing that national security must be reinforced, not undermined.  

“We call on you to stand by our side. With your will and support, a solution can be found to an operational, economic and social problem, recognising and utilising human resources that have already been tested and proven their value,” the officers said.

The 297 special constables had initially been hired for 18 months to cover “immediate needs for immigration issues”, along the Green Line.

Their contracts were extended for 10months, however the justice ministry had explicitly excluded further renewal, stressing the officers would be “absorbed” back into the police through new hiring initiatives.

The House legal committee last Wednesday criticised the ministry’s “rigid stance” in the matter with committee deputy chair and Disy MP Fotini Tsidirou describing the officers’ dismissal as “unacceptable”, saying that over the course of their contracts, they had “acquired experience and had been trained and were very valuable for the safety of the country.