Minister briefs cabinet on Ukrainian refugees in Cyprus

Cabinet on Wednesday decided to extend aid to Ukrainians who arrived on the island before the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while those who did not apply for temporary protection will be offered extended stay in the Republic.

The decisions were announced by deputy government spokeswoman Niovi Parisinou after the completion of the council of ministers’ meeting under President Nicos Anastasiades.

During the session, Interior Minister Nikos Nouris updated the ministers on the progress in the implementation of cabinet’s decision in March regarding aid to Ukrainian refugees.

According to the government’s statement, between February 22 until the end of April this year, some 15,096 people arrived from Ukraine to Cyprus from whom 10,501 remain in the country.

In addition to those, the state decided to extend the aid to another 1,537 Ukrainians who arrived on the island from February 1 and are stranded in the country due to the Russian invasion in their homeland.

Concerning those who entered the country legally before the invasion but have not applied for temporary protection, the cabinet decided to extend their period of stay in the Republic from 90 to 180 days.

Cabinet had announced in March the decision to issue a card to Ukrainian refugees, giving them access to food, housing, health care, education, employment, and benefits as part of the temporary protection regime.

Health care will be available at all state hospitals that are registered in the national health scheme Gesy, Nouris explained.

Cypriot authorities have also established a 24-hour channel of communication with the Ukrainian embassy in Nicosia to facilitate assistance to refugees from the war-torn country.