A 31-year-old food delivery rider based in Limassol has reported being attacked and robbed, the police said on Saturday, with the incident the latest in an ongoing series of similar incidents both in Cyprus’ second city and elsewhere on the island.
According to the police, the man reported that at around 10.15pm on Friday, he was approached by two individuals aboard a motorcycle who stole his mobile phone, which was attached to his own bicycle’s handlebars.
The man said that he had then followed the perpetrators and that when he attempted to approach them, the passenger kicked him, causing him to fall to the ground.
While he was on the ground, he said, a third person, riding another motorcycle, then approached him and stole some cash from him, before all three men fled the scene.
The police’s investigation into the matter is ongoing.
Fitiris suggested giving riders ‘red button’ to inform police of attacks
Friday’s alleged incident is the latest of many similar such cases, with Justice Minister Costas Fitiris having earlier this month suggested that food delivery riders each be given a “red button”, which they can press in the event of them being attacked by members of the public, to immediately inform the police of an attack.
He also moved to stress that the motive behind the frequent assaults of delivery drivers is not racism, saying that “we found that there are also independent distributors who have a lot of money on them, and most of the time, I estimate that the motives are robbery and not racism”.
Meanwhile, human rights commissioner Maria Stylianou Lottides said of the most recent spate of attacks that she had written to police chief Themistos Arnaoutis, saying that while she appreciates that the police have already taken measures, “the repetition of the attacks makes it necessary to systematically evaluate their effectiveness”.
Lottides called on police to conduct ‘comprehensive’ invesitgation
She also expressed doubt regarding Fitiris’ plan for the rollout of “red buttons”, saying that “responsibility for workers’ safety belongs to the competent authorities and the delivery companies, and cannot be transferred to the delivery riders themselves through instructions for them to protect themselves”.
Additionally, she called on the police to conduct “an immediate and comprehensive investigation” into the latest round of attacks and the possible motives behind them, as well as conducting a “review of policing plans” and a “mapping of high-risk areas”.
She said that the police must also ensure that there are “accessible reporting channels for victims”, including that “removal of language barriers”, as well as a “systematic recording of cases to identify recuring patterns of attacks”.