Cyprus
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Ministerial meeting on the increased flow of migrants in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - What will be discussed

b petridis Immigrants, Refugees, Refugee

A ministerial meeting is being held on Tuesday morning on the occasion of the increased flow, in the last 24 hours, of migrants who arrive by boat or through occupied areas.

Specifically, the Minister of Interior Mr. Konstantinos Petridis has convened a meeting with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs Nikos Christodoulidis, Justice and Public Order Ionas Nikolaou and Labor and Social Insurance Zeta Aimilianidou, in order to discuss the issue, as stated in his office. Mr. Petridis.

The meeting will take place at 11 in the morning at the Ministry of Interior.

The Minister of Interior had stated on Saturday in KYPE that "there is a worrying tendency to increase the flows of irregular migration in Cyprus either by sea or through the occupied territories", warning that Cyprus has reached its limits regarding the number of migrants it can absorb .

According to data from the Ministry of Interior:

  1. In the last four days in eight different incidents (either by sea or by occupation) we have had 140 new arrivals of asylum seekers, all Syrians.
  2. About 8,000 people have already been granted protection. Another 7,000 are pending. Mostly Syrians.
  3. The individuals arrive either from the sea or from the occupied areas organized by circuits of trafficking of illegal immigrants.
  4. In 2018 there is an increase of 56% in asylum applications compared to 2017 and last year 40% compared to 2016.
  5. Cyprus and Greece alone have more than 5,000 asylum seekers per million population.
  6. Kofinou is overcrowded.

What will be discussed at the extraordinary meeting of the Minister

As Sigmalive is informed during the extraordinary meeting of the Minister, there will be a discussion on all aspects as it is an issue with complex and different dimensions such as:

  1. External dimension: What is being done and what is the prospect of reaching an agreement on the readmission of irregular migrants in Syria and in which areas, as well as the European Union-Syria relationship. The same goes for the case of Lebanon since many illegal immigrants come from there as well.
  2. Policing - Security: There will be a discussion to verify the details of illegal immigrants coming to Cyprus and what the picture is today. In other words, security issues will be raised as a possible number of migrants come from areas that were until recently controlled by the Islamic State.
  3. An international protection court will never be set up in Cyprus so that more deportations of abusive applications can begin.
  4. Infrastructure issues: What else can the Republic of Cyprus do for those who have arrived and continue to arrive.
  5. Allowance and social policy towards them and their possible access to the labor market without becoming a more attractive immigration destination.
  6. Faster processing of applications
  7. Review of the position of the Republic of Cyprus in the European Union.

The extraordinary ministerial meeting convened by the Minister of Interior Konstantinos Petridis will be attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Christodoulidis, the Minister of Justice and Public Order, Ionas Nikolaou and the Minister of Labor and Social Security Zeta Aimilianidou.

It is recalled that Mr. Petridis, in recent statements, spoke of a worrying upward trend in the flow of illegal immigrants.

Famagusta.News / KYPE