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Government set to tackle asylum seekers’ appeals

migrant sits outside the kokkinotrimithia refugee camp on the outskirts of nicosia
File photo

Afternoon court hearings will start for asylum seekers’ appeals while additional hires in the asylum service are among the measures aiming to speed up the processing of asylum applications, Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou has announced.

Pending applications for international protection in Cyprus exceeded 55,000, corresponding to more than 6 per cent of the country’s population, according to the interior minister. The number of such applications compared to the Cypriot population saw a 490 per cent increase since 2016.

To address this migration problem, Ioannou promotes a series of changes in the application and court proceedings but also at reception centres, he told Phileleftheros newspaper on Saturday.

He said asylum service officers were recently increased with 27 new hires, while an additional 16 staff are expected, thus bringing the total number of officers to 100. This means 1,900 applications will be examined per month, compared to the current 1,200.

Another 25 examiners will also be hired for the pending applications.

To fight the backlog of court cases, the interior ministry is in communication with the supreme court in an effort for some lawyers to become judges and hear the appeals of asylum seekers in the afternoons, Ioannou said.

There are currently 29,000 applications for international protection pending before the Asylum Service, although 16,005 decisions were issued by the Asylum Service in 2022.

In 2022, there was a large increase in the number of unaccompanied children coming to Cyprus through Turkey. According to the interior ministry, 287 unaccompanied children arrived in the government-controlled areas in 2021, while 958 in 2022.

As regards the situation this year, this has improved, but the numbers remain high.

In the first quarter of 2023, applications amounted to 3,181, according to Phileleftheros. Applications in January and February decreased by 50 per cent compared to last year, while the month of March shows an alarming upward trend of 1,678 applications. Last year in the same period there were 5,066 asylum applications.

Regarding the returns of people whose applications are rejected, so far this year 2,180 people were returned to their country, the minister said.

Meanwhile, the transfer of migrants through the pilot voluntary relocation programme to other EU Member States is also being promoted. Some 210 asylum seekers from Cyprus were relocated to Germany, France, Bulgaria and Romania in the past three months and relocations are expected to continue in the coming months.

Concerning the deputy ministry of immigration and asylum which is expected to be established, Ioannou said the aim is to submit the relevant bill by the end of May so it can be established in September.

The interior minister referred to the Eastern Mediterranean migration route action plan agreed by the European council in February, saying Cyprus will ask for several provisions to be included in the draft. According to the information received from the European Commission, Ioannou said, there have already been inquiries and contacts with the competent representatives of Turkish Airlines and Pygasus, as well as with competent officials of the Istanbul airport authorities, to find the best way to manage the flows to Cyprus through Turkey.

Efforts are also being made to upgrade the reception facilities of asylum seekers in Pournara with €25 million while an additional 250 beds will be made available in Kofinou. A tender is also underway for the creation of a centre in Limnes area in Menoyia that will be able to host up to 1,000 people with €67 million EU funding.

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