Cyprus is panting from immigration, as the numbers show. An "X-ray" performed last month by Economy Today drew data from the Asylum Service on the countries of people arriving in Cyprus.
Statements were also made on the issue by the competent Minister of the Interior, who stated that this year the expenses for the reception of refugees will be much increased. It is recalled that the Government is preparing a package of measures in order to deal with the uncontrolled flows of recent months.
Below are the data of the Asylum Service until June 2019
Applications
Cases 5956
People 6671
decisions
Cases 1585
People 1832
Refugee status
Cases 36
People 67
Pending cases
Cases 11726
People 13641
The 11 countries from which Cyprus receives flows
Syria 1721
Agriculture 910
India 910
Cameroon 552
Bangladesh 510
Pakistan 485
Vietnam 266
Egypt 245
Sri Lanka 209
Nigeria 159
Total 5808 (87% of the total number of asylum applications in Cyprus until June 2019).
The economic reading
Over € 9 million is expected to be spent this year only on the reception of refugees. The annual expenditure records an increase of € 3 million.
Compared to that of 2018, while it is three times that of 2017.
The handling of the issue involves several services of the Republic, while it is worth noting that we are not talking about handling that is completed on the same day. As the Minister of Interior notes in Economy Today, (in the October issue) the calculation of the exact cost of the issue for the Republic is difficult to calculate and give, precisely because of the multidimensional nature of the issue.
"Immigration covers a wide range of sectors. It is not only the costs of welcoming and hosting immigrants, the allowances to cover basic needs, the medical care, the education of the children. "The projects and actions of various state services should also be taken into account", notes Konstantinos Petridis. Indicates that in the period January-May 2019 the amount of € 810.000 was spent only for the provision of material assistance to 2.889 families of asylum seekers.
Citing the financial data, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs notes that for this year the annual expenditure was estimated to be increased by € 3 million compared to last year and three times compared to 2017. It will reach, as estimated, € 7,5 million. In addition, the total annual operating cost of the Social Welfare Services programs for the protection and accommodation of unaccompanied children amounts to € 1,5 million ", according to the Minister of Interior. Konstantinos Petridis adds that in 2019 they are expected to spend a total of over € 9 million just for the reception of refugees.
Source: sigmalive