The big problem Cyprus is facing is the influx of migrants, which so far this year amount to 21,000, with 95% of these people coming from the Green Line, Interior Minister Nicos Nouris said on Sunday, stressing that “Turkey is sending us migrants through the occupied territories and of course there should be consequences for this action.”
In his statements to journalists on the sidelines of the second event for the presentation of the “Cyprus – Tomorrow Plan” at Nicosia Mall, Nouris, when asked about the migration problem and the incidents at the “Pournara” accommodation centre, said that migration is an issue that has now taken on a European and global dimension and just two days ago, a new discussion took place at the Council of EU Interior Ministers in Brussels, about, among other things, the issue of the instrumentalisation of migrants and migration from third countries.
In our case, Nouris continued, the perpetrator is Turkey, and of course we are very interested in the adoption by the European Parliament of the relevant regulation, which the Czech Presidency forwarded to COREPER.
He noted that, unfortunately, a small number of states expressed reservations regarding the importance of this regulation, thus preventing it from being submitted to the European Parliament. “We will continue this effort with the Swedish Presidency and convince the four countries that had a different opinion,” the Minister said.
He added that this regulation would, among other things, send a message to those countries, led by Turkey, that they cannot be left unaffected when they instrumentalise migration to the detriment of other countries, as in the case of Cyprus. Turkey, he added, is sending us migrants through the occupied territories and of course there should be consequences for this action.
Asked about the proposal by presidential candidates for a faster processing of political asylum applications, Nouris said that with all due respect to the candidates, they are probably not properly informed or they are just expressing their views in this particular way, in the absence of other arguments. “Europe has designated us as the champions, for 2022, in terms of migrant returns. We have returned 7,100 migrants and we are by far the country with the highest number of returns precisely because we have structured a very efficient return system,” he said.
The big problem we face is the inflows, which so far this year amount to 21,000, 95 percent of whom are coming from the Green Line, he said.
Regarding the processing of applications, Nouris said that in 2020 the Ministry of Interior processed about 4,000 asylum applications and with the implementation of the fast-track procedure from 1 January 2021, 16,500 were processed. He noted that “everything I hear about the fast-track procedure is far from reality”.
The problem, he continued, which concerns the whole of Europe is that there are no return agreements with many third countries. On the issue of border guards, Nouris noted that the number of applications has exceeded 420 and the aim is to recruit 300 in the first phase. Our wish, the Minister said, is to recruit these border guards within the first months of 2023.
On the “Cyprus – Tomorrow Plan” and the Recovery Fund, he said it is the most important legacy we leave to any government. It is a plan, he continued, which will enable very concrete reforms efforts and projects which will completely change Cyprus along with everything we have already done. The Ministry of Interior, he said, has the responsibility for a very large number of such actions, being the largest ministry.
“We have 8 specific actions, with the local government reform being the main one, but other very important actions follow, such as the digitisation of our cultural heritage and the issuing of pending property titles in the land registry,” the Interior Minister said.
He added that a very important action is also the student housing project “so that we will have 560 student accommodation units in 2025 within the walled city of Nicosia, with an expenditure of 15 million.”
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory.
Source: Cyprus News Agency