More than two thousand deportations of illegal immigrants from Cyprus to their countries of origin took place in 2021, said the spokesman of the Police, Christos Andreou, who stated that in the last two years the numbers have doubled.
According to Mr. Andreou, in 2018 the deportations of illegal immigrants to the territory of the Republic of Cyprus amounted to 695, while in 2019 to 417.
He also mentioned that in 2020 the numbers doubled and specifically 1.272 deportations had taken place, while in 2021 the deportations amounted to 2.320.
According to the Police Spokesperson, in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior, the Police proceeded with various operations - especially in the last year - to locate illegal immigrants, who are in the territory of the Republic of Cyprus.
He explained that the operations were carried out and will continue to be carried out in various cities and especially in places where there is an increased presence of foreigners.
"We are carrying out checks during which, if illegal immigrants are found, they are arrested and then the necessary procedures are followed. "In some cases, people from third countries who have dealt with us in criminal matters also belong to this category," he said.
Mr. Andreou noted that the specific operations will continue in an effort to identify other illegal immigrants.
Answering a relevant question, he said that the biggest problem of influx of illegal immigrants is found in the green line, since as he said many of them enter the free areas through the occupied areas.
He added that the largest percentage of illegal immigrants results from entering the free areas through the occupied territories.
