From today's discussion, the identification of views is recorded in relation to the initiative of the Republic of Cyprus to review the status of regions in Syria, said the Minister of the Interior, Konstantinos Ioannou, at a press conference after the conclusion of the "Migration and Syria Dynamics" Ministerial Summit that he hosted on Friday Nicosia, with the participation of seven other EU countries.
Mr. Ioannou stated that after 13 years, the facts and conditions in Syria have changed and it is time as a whole as the EU "to find the appropriate ways, which will allow the assessment of the current realities prevailing in Syria and, by extension , the redefinition of our attitude".
Mr. Ioannou clarified that the complexity of the situation is not overlooked and the fact that stability in the country has not yet been fully restored and we share the opinion that we must speed up the procedures to take all the necessary measures to create conditions that will allow the return of persons to Syria.
"The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has already opened a channel of communication with the Syrian authorities and therefore we as the European Union should support efforts to pave the way for safe, voluntary returns of Syrians, in a way that ensures the their protection and with respect to International Law and European Directives. This is precisely the outcome of today's meeting since a group of member states will now be able to push in this direction," he said.
He said that the importance of the Commission's initiative to promote legal immigration and the attraction of skilled personnel from third countries, to meet the needs of national labor markets, was also discussed, adding that the successful implementation of this policy will be beneficial both for maintaining of social cohesion, as well as to ensure the economic stability of our countries.
Regarding the situation in Lebanon, he said that amid the unstable conditions created by the conflict between Israel and Hamas and the visible risk of escalation and expansion of the conflict in the region, Lebanon's support is imperative and it is expected that the Commission will soon proceed to conclude an agreement with Lebanon, in a similar way that he recently did with Egypt and previously with Tunisia.
He said that perhaps the most tragic aspect of immigration, that of the instrumentalization of migrants and the trafficking of persons by organized criminal gangs of traffickers who, he said, hoard by exploiting people's need for security, is not overlooked.
"The group of eight states supports the European Union's effort to promote cooperation with third countries, in order to coordinate the fight against trafficking rings," he said.
He expressed the certainty that today's Summit will provide the impetus for further discussion of our concerns in the relevant European Institutions, with the aim of revising the approach of the European Union for the benefit of European societies.
Responding to a question about how close we are to the declassification of areas of Syria and whether the thought of a unilateral decision on the status of the country has been abandoned, he answered that we are certainly not at the stage for a unilateral decision, recalling that he has said many times and in the past that the data is evaluated.
He said that the important thing is that everyone today agreed that the procedures for the safe return of Syrian refugees, on a voluntary basis, must be accelerated. He added that the facts on the ground have changed and the discussion of re-evaluation should begin.
"There is already a discussion with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees who believe that there should be appropriate financial support and the creation of conditions for them to stay safely and for education and work, and we will push in this direction," he said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs highlighted once again the external dimension of the issue stating that there is a need to support third countries and further Lebanon. He added that Poland has announced that there will be additional aid and support to programs in Lebanon to increase its ability to limit migration flows.
In another question, he repeated that there is the possibility that the situation in Lebanon will get even worse and that since last summer Cyprus had warned that any collapse of Lebanon would have disastrous consequences first for Cyprus, due to its proximity, and then for the rest of the EU and should to lean on.
Mr. Ioannou referred to the need for more agreements with third countries for returns, as stated in a letter signed by Cyprus with 15 other countries.
The Minister reiterated that the agreement reached by the EU at the initiative of Cyprus was very important, but more is needed if one considers the money given to Turkey for immigration management, which is much more than what is given to Lebanon.
He said that today some decisions were taken and they will be implemented at the technocratic level to implement the agreed upon.
In another question whether the returns to Syria from a voluntary basis will initially turn into a forced one, the Minister said that in the first stage we are talking about voluntary ones because the forced ones require cooperation with the Assad regime and this is not recognized.
“Certainly the next step after voluntary returns is to consider forced returns but for that more needs to be done. There are countries in the EU that reject requests but cannot do forced returns because there is no recognition of the Syrian regime," he said.
Source: KYPE
