A so-called Commission of the Palestinian Community in Cyprus has been established in the East Mediterranean island country.

The Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Department of Expatriate Affairs said on Friday that the commission convened its first meeting at the Palestine Embassy in Nicosia. Ambassador Jabran Tawil was in attendance.

The founding committee, chaired by Raed al-Hourani, has been tasked with preparations for the first Palestinian conference in Cyprus.

Ambassador Tawil said the commission’s work will be mainly sponsored by the Palestine Embassy.

He added that the presence of the Palestinian community is part and parcel of the embassy’s work and that the Palestinian diplomacy will forever stand by the people until the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

A few weeks earlier, Palestine Envoy to Cyprus, Ambassador Jabran Tawil, discussed with Kyriakos Kouros, Director of the Cyprus President’s Diplomatic Office, the situation of Palestinian refugees in Cyprus.

Tawil underscored the need to set a relief mechanism to assist Palestinian refugees in Cyprus. The Cyprian official vowed to reach out to the concerned authorities to that end.

Some 300 Palestinian refugees from Syria, along with other Palestinian refugees and migrants from Iraq and Lebanon, have been facing dire humanitarian conditions in Cyprus due to the absence of relief assistance and lack of access to the labor market in a country where 23.9% of the population are at risk of poverty and social marginalization.