Nicosia: Repatriations of third-country nationals who were residing illegally in Cyprus increased by 53% over the past three years, according to data published by the Cyprus Police on X. Over the same period, arrivals decreased by 86%.
According to Cyprus News Agency, specifically, in a post on X, the Police say that 11,500 foreign nationals who were residing illegally in Cyprus were repatriated in 2025 through operations carried out by the Aliens and Immigration Unit. By comparison, voluntary and forced returns in 2022 amounted to 7,506, marking a 53% increase over the three-year period.
The data published by the Police indicates that repatriations totaled 9,699 in 2023 and 10,092 in 2024.
As noted in the post, the Police participated this year in 19 FRONTEX return operations, during which more than 150 foreign nationals were repatriated.
In addition, it is noted that arrivals of irregular migrants in 2025 totaled 2,400. This represents a decrease of 86% over the past three years, compared to the 17,434 arrivals recorded in 2022.
Arrivals declined to 10,994 in 2023 and to 6,109 in 2024, while only 2,400 were recorded in 2025.