Migrants stand behind a fence inside a refugee camp in Kokkinotrimithia outside of capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Feb. 5, 2021. (Photo: Petros Karadjias/ AP)
Sept 15, 2023. Posted by Balkan Periscope - Hellas
European
Union member Cyprus said Friday it has asked the bloc to review whether Syria
remains an unsafe country to which member states should be barred from
repatriating asylum-seekers.
The move follows a flurry of racially-motivated attacks on foreigners in recent weeks amid growing anti-migrant sentiment on the Mediterranean island.
Interior
Minister Constantinos Ioannou said he would try to persuade the EU and the
United Nations to end Syria’s status as an unsafe country for refugees to be
returned to.
"We,
as Cyprus, consider and find it conducive, along with other member states, that
the status of Syria should be re-evaluated," he told reporters.
Ioannou
said the bloc had left Syria's status unchanged for 11 years, and a review was
needed as some areas were considered safe.
"There
are already two areas recognised by the EU Asylum Agency (EUAA) as safe
areas," he said.
“So, it
must now also be recognised at the level of the European Union, allowing us to
deport or return people to Syria. At the moment, no country can do so.”
In a letter
to European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas, Ioannou said he had
also raised the urgent need for aid to Lebanon, where it is estimated that 2.5
million Syrians have taken refuge.
“The
information we have from the authorities in Lebanon is that there is an
increase in Syrians moving to Lebanon.
"Lebanon
is a barrier. If Lebanon collapses, then all of Europe will have a
problem," he said.
In recent
months, Cyprus has seen a surge of asylum seekers, most of them Syrian,
arriving by sea from Syria and Lebanon.
The
minister said the government has reduced arrivals of irregular migrants by 50
percent, thanks to external factors and specific measures taken.
"We
have managed to increase returns by 50 percent from 3,200 to 4,700, whether
they are voluntary, which we have invested a lot in, or deportations."
Ioannou
said the processing of asylum applications had been speeded up and now took
three months instead of nine.
He said the
government aims "to reduce the financial benefits for asylum seekers to
make Cyprus an unattractive destination".
Asylum
applications fell to 5,866 for the period from March to August, down from
11,961 for the same period of last year, according to interior ministry
figures.
The
government argues that Cyprus is a "frontline" country on the
Mediterranean migration route, with asylum-seekers making up six percent of the
915,000 population in government-controlled areas –- the highest proportion in
the bloc.
Although
asylum applications are down, there has been a rise in migrants arriving by
boat, with a 60 percent increase recorded in the first seven months of the
year.
(agencies)