The Minister of Interior Mr. Konstantinos Petridis in his statements, today, in the Parliament characterized the immigration issue as a multidimensional issue, which arose in its current intensity in the last years and especially after 2015-2016, with the much increased flows.
He said that he had the opportunity to explain to the deputies the measures taken in our country, but also at European level, saying that Cyprus is at the forefront and European solidarity must be demonstrated in practice.
We are ranked, he said, first in the flows of immigrants for the third year. According to the Minister, problems are also created by the disagreement in the Dublin regulation on the return of immigrants.
Mr. Petridis said that 2/3 of the immigrants enter the Republic of Cyprus from the occupied territories. 1/3 are people with a residence permit who, however, in some cases, abuse the system and apply for asylum. He said that we need to improve the procedures, whether they are judicial or involving deportations and returns.
Specifically for the Green Line Regulation, he explained that the change in the implementation code is being considered in order to be more restrictive for the passage of third-country nationals. He explained that some people take advantage of the provision for return within 90 days, as it seems to be inapplicable.
Regarding fictitious marriages, the Minister of Interior said that measures are being taken in this issue as well, but it is not easy to manage as many people come legally and after the expiration of their leave, whether they seek asylum or have fictitious marriages.
He also said that the information system applied in countries of the Siegen Treaty would be useful for Cyprus in tackling the problem of increased migration.
The Minister of Interior stated within the committee that a large problem is the arrival of illegal immigrants from Africa and mainly from countries such as Cameroon and Nigeria, who fly by air to Ankara and then through the occupied territories, reach the free zones.