Cyprus has been assessed as a model country by the EU in the issue of returning irregular migrants, Interior Minister Nicos Nouris said, and that is why, he added, it is hosting the second meeting of the European Commission’s High-Level Network on Returns, which takes place on Thursday and Friday in Nicosia.
In statements on the sidelines of the meeting, the Minister said that the European Commission has decided to set up this Mechanism, called Network on Return. “Cyprus was assessed, among the 27 member countries, as the model country in the issue of returns. The results we have recorded this year gave us the opportunity to host in Cyprus this very important meeting of the Network on Return,” he said, noting that in 2022 7,000 returns have taken place, an outcome which ranks Cyprus first among European countries.
The Minister went on to say that this is “a great honour for a country that is facing a huge problem in terms of migration.”
He expressed the certainty that the meeting’s outcomes will show the importance of policies followed by Cyprus and that these practices will also be followed in other EU countries.
During his welcoming speech, he said that he believes that the Network will greatly contribute to coordinating the effort, between the Member States and the relevant EU agencies, for effective, sustainable and safe returns of third-country nationals to their countries of origin, which is a priority for the entire Union.
“Unfortunately, in Cyprus, we struggle daily with these numbers, and the management of the ever-increasing arrivals of irregular migrants is extremely difficult,” he said, adding that from January to October 2022, asylum applications have risen to 18,345, which brings the overall number of asylum seekers and beneficiaries of protection status to over 6% of the population of the Republic of Cyprus.
Regarding the Green line, he underlined that it is not an external border, however it makes Cyprus a particular case among Member States. “Despite the efforts and measures that have been taken, it continues to be our Achilles’ heel, but also the tool used for the instrumentalisation of migrants on the part of Turkey, with a daily flow from the occupied to the areas controlled by the Republic,” he noted. This, he added, “is clearly established, as 95% of irregular migrants cross the green line constantly and illegally.” These figures, Nouris said, “confirm the position on the instrumentalisation of migration by Turkey, and Cyprus’ insistence on the need to stem the migrant flows with deterrent means on the ground.
Nouris also referred to the need to “relieve the country from the excessively increased flows”, with a continuous effort to increase returns by own means, but at the same time via reaching agreements with both Member States and third countries, with an emphasis on the voluntary return programme with financial incentives.
He said that with a number of third countries “we seem to have succeeded in overcoming bureaucratic procedures and we have managed to return a significant number of migrants.” To that extent he referred to agreements reached with India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Vietnam, and a pending agreement with Congo.
“In 2022, we created the Returns Office, an innovative initiative of the Interior Ministry, which coordinates the competent services of the state” and the European agencies Frontex and Europol, which is the point of contact on return issues both with the EU itself, but also with third countries, Nouris said.
As a result of this coordinated action, Cyprus is currently in first place in return numbers among the Member States, in proportion of population. “In 2022 we have returned almost 7,000 persons, accounting to 40% of arrivals, as opposed to 17% last year. A rate which clearly satisfies us”, he noted, adding that a sharp increase in assisted voluntary returns was also achieved, compared to forced returns, with their rate for this year reaching 87%. He expressed the conviction that Cyprus’ participation in the European Commission’s Returns Network will further contribute to these efforts.
“It is for this reason that we insist on our position for the need to manage returns and readmissions in a centralized manner, under the operational coordination of the Commission itself. It is our belief that this Network is the first important step in this direction,” he concluded.
Source: Cyprus News Agency