Our View: Government’s migration policies proving successful

There is no doubt that the migration policy of the Christodoulides government has been a big improvement on that of its predecessor, which spent most of its time publicly complaining about the problem and conveying that impression that it did not know what to do about it. Its main legacy was the creation of the fence along the buffer zone which inconvenienced the local residents more than the irregular migrants crossing from the north.

There have been no such publicity gimmicks by the Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou, who has focused on putting together several practical policies for dealing with different aspects of the problem. The strategy had four main objectives: reducing the number of arrivals, speeding up the examination of applications for asylum, increasing the rate of repatriations and deportations and improving the infrastructure for migrants.

The numbers, repeated by Ioannou of Trito on Monday morning, show the success of a well-rounded approach. Compared to 2022, last year arrivals were down by 50 per cent, from 21,500 to 11,600 while returns increased by more than 60 per cent, from 7,700 to 12,000. On returns Cyprus was fourth in the EU, in absolute numbers, and first as a proportion of the population (in December alone there were 960). The government has also made use of the EU resettlement programme, sending some 1,700 to other EU states compared to the negligible 79 in 2022.

In addition to this, it has improved the situation at the Pournara reception centre, where at one point there were as many as 3,000 people staying in crammed and unhealthy conditions. The number is now down to around 600, said Ioannou, explaining that this was because the processing of applications was now completed in two to three weeks, where before it took months. And construction work on the centre for departures in Limnes was also in progress, something that would further ease the burden on Pournara.

The migration policy does not end there. The interior ministry has also formulated a plan, consisting of 50 actions for the assimilation of migrants who have been granted protected status, covering education, job training, health, shelter and protection from exploitation. Ioannou admitted this was quite an ambitious programme, but it is important that the government recognises the need for integrating migrants into our society, because they will not all be returned. The economy needs more workers and incorporating migrants into the labour force could reduce demand for bringing them in from third countries.

It is very encouraging that practical measures are being taken by the government to deal with all aspects of migration and the results are testimony to their effectiveness. It is also important that it shows it is in control of the situation as this will reduce the public discontent that far-right groups have been exploiting.