Cyprus supports the Migration Action Plan to be discussed on Friday at the Council of EU Home Affairs Ministers, as it can contribute to tackling the problem until the Single European Policy on the matter is agreed on. However, the Action Plan should not replace the EU Pact on migration, said the Minister of the Interior, Nicos Nouris, in response to questions on the matter.
Home Affairs Ministers will discuss the current situation along all migratory routes, seeking an action plan on the Central Mediterranean, in order to address the immediate and ongoing challenges along the Central Mediterranean migratory route.
Cyprus will seek a similar action plan for the Eastern Mediterranean, the Minister noted. “I would like to hope that this will be possible at the regular Council meeting which will be on December 8th in Brussels”, he added.
There are a lot of positive elements in the Action Plan proposed by the Commission, which the Minister said Cyprus will support. “But the guiding principle and the quintessence of the effort, beyond rescue issues, is to intensify the actions towards third countries, so that, on the one hand, there are agreements, and on the other hand, there is a strengthening of the infrastructure in a number of third countries, so that immigrants do not need to they choose to migrate,” he added.
Nouris clarified that the Action Plan cannot replace the Migration Pact of the Single European Policy, and that this will also be the position of Cyprus during the Council meeting.
Furthermore, regarding the EU’s Single Migration and Asylum Pact, the biggest issue that still remains is the need of the 5 Mediterranean member states to make relocations mandatory. “On the contrary, there is the position of many European countries, which do not accept the obligation and insist on voluntary relocations, something that is already being implemented and which is clearly proven by the numbers that it cannot provide a solution to the problem”, Nouris explained.
The Minister said that EU requests, regarding Turkey are very specific. “First, we request the establishment of a FRONTEX office at Istanbul’s airport to check on flights towards occupied Cyprus, in order to prevent the illegal channeling of migrants from Istanbul to Tympou illegal airport and then to the free areas. The second is that we are asking for maritime surveillance of Turkey’s southern coasts, but this also requires Turkey’s agreement”, he noted.
According to the EU, 281,000 irregular border crossings were detected at the external borders of the EU by the end of October this year, an increase of 77% compared with the same period of 2021.
Source: Cyprus News Agency