#Asylum seekers

The number of asylum seekers receiving state rent and food allowances in Cyprus has fallen to around 2,000, as the government pointed to lower illegal migration, reduced welfare spending and faster ...

Cyprus and Lithuania on Friday signed a memorandum of cooperation on the relocation of applicants for international protection from Cyprus to Lithuania, marking one of the first concrete solidarity measures ...

Authorities on Thursday identified as a Congolese national the man who fell to his death earlier this week while trying to escape a raid by immigration officers in Larnaca. Though ...

The Supreme Court ruled that the detention of a 26-year-old asylum seeker from the Congo had become unlawful after approximately 15 months in custody, finding there was no realistic prospect of ...

A 23-year-old third-country national was found to be staying illegally in Cyprus after being spotted acting suspiciously near the central prisons in Nicosia, police said on Thursday. They received information ...

Cyprus is pursuing a comprehensive restructuring of its asylum system within the framework of the EU’s new migration pact, deputy migration minister Nicholas Ioannides assured on Saturday. “Our goal ...

Approximately five per cent of Cyprus population are refugees, ranking the island first among the three countries recording the highest share of immigrants in the European Union, a report by ...

A bill amending the Refugee Law is entering its final stage before a vote, following the completion of its examination by the House interior committee, with the aim of fully ...

A local court on Friday reportedly suspended the deportation of an asylum seeker convicted of domestic violence, ruling that the decision was in the best interests of his two children ...

By Asbel Bohigues As governments around the world tighten migration controls, Spain has taken a strikingly different path. In January 2026, the Spanish cabinet approved a decree opening a pathway to ...

Combating illegal migrant smuggling remains a daily operational challenge, deputy migration minister Nicholas Ioannides admitted on Thursday, Speaking at Europol’s joint parliamentary scrutiny meeting, Ioannides said the government had ...

Parliament on Thursday approved legislation reducing the time limits for appeals against rejected asylum applications, as courts simultaneously upheld deportation decisions. The bill, amending the law governing the establishment and ...

Following the passage of a new bill on Thursday, migrants granted asylum in Cyprus will soon be at risk of losing their international protection status if they commit crimes, making ...

At 23.9 applicants per 100,000 people, Cyprus recorded the second-highest rate of asylum applications in the European Union in August 2025, Eurostat said on Monday. Across the EU, most first-time applications were submitted ...

A small boat with a total of 21 Syrian nationals on board arrived in Cyprus, near the village of Rizokarpaso, on Thursday morning. The 21 people, all male, were spotted by the ...

Cyprus has relocated more than 3,000 asylum seekers to nine different EU member states between 2022 until September 2025, the deputy ministry of migration said on Thursday. “The relocations are being implemented in ...

Deputy Migration Minister Nicholas Ioannides on Thursday presented the relaunch of the ‘voluntary repatriation plan‘ for Syrians, set to open on June 2, in response to the collapse of the Assad ...

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a habeas corpus ad subjiciendum demand for release filed by an international protection applicant, who had admitted various crimes, including murder, to the police. ...

A group called ‘Syrians in Cyprus’ has called for the partial lifting of a freeze on asylum applications from Syria, saying in letters to the interior minister and deputy migration ...

The new migrant centre in Limnes, near the Larnaca district village of Menoyia, is to be completed by the end of the year, Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades said on Wednesday. ...

Cyprus has recorded the highest ratio of departures to arrivals among EU member states in 2024, with a rate of 179 per cent. A total of 10,941 people left the country in the ...

A number of Syrian nationals in Cyprus are eyeing a return to their home country, Deputy Minister for Migration Nicholas Ioannides said on Monday after President Bashar al-Assad’s fall ...

All migrants who were stranded in the buffer zone have been removed from the site, the deputy migration ministry confirmed on Saturday, putting an end to months of wrangling. A ...

Any asylum seeker who commits a crime will have their subsidiary protection status revoked, Deputy Minister of Migration Nicholas Ioannides announced on Thursday. His statements were made after a Cabinet ...