A British military base is being used for a multi-million-quid criminal enterprise, possibly involving the Russian mafia — and Britain seems powerless to prevent it. Last year they had a crack at enforcement and had to give up. Mafia 1, British army 0.
It’s happening in Cyprus, in the British Sovereign Base Areas. The situation in Cyprus is a bit like the Schleswig-Holstein Question, but with more complex problems of nationality, culture and power. It has let this criminal enterprise thrive and prosper on the fringes, with the result that Britain is providing the infrastructure for a major illegal business with suspected links to Russian criminal organisations. Which is a touch embarrassing. And it’s all about little birds.
Simon Barnes and the RSPB’s Guy Shorrock consider what can be done for the Cypriot songbird’s plight:
An RSPB report published this week shows that last autumn the criminals hit a new record: they managed to kill 800,000 songbirds on Cape Pyla, which is British territory.
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