Filenews 28 October 2021 - by Michalis Hadjivasilis
For the coming week, the submission of a proposal to the Council of Ministers by the Minister of Interior for measures on the green line to stem the increased migratory flows was postponed.
Nikos Nouris, while he was going to submit at yesterday's meeting of the Minister a specific proposal for additional measures on the green line, however, this will become a possibility next week, in order to better study the proposed measures.
As "F" wrote yesterday, among the suggestions that will be made are the surveillance of specific points of the line with cameras or drones, as well as the extension of the barbed wire. The consistent position of Cyprus, as well as that of the other frontline Mediterranean member-states, is that the Common European Asylum and Migration System should be balanced in terms of the concepts of responsibility and solidarity and ensure effective management of migration flows before they reach the EU's external borders.
Indicative of the current situation with the migratory flows, is the fact that in October alone, 1,702 asylum applications were submitted (85% came from the green line) while in the whole of 2021 the applications reached 10,350. Also, yesterday in the Pournara Accommodation Center there were 1,840 refugees and migrants and another 200 outside it, while its capacity is 1,200 people.
According to the Interior Minister, "we are very concerned that the profile of the flows has changed, which clearly shows turkey's role. Because, last year, the five countries from which we had migratory flows were, in turn, Syria, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Now the order has changed completely. Syria remains first, but second is Congo, followed by Nigeria, Cameroon, Somalia, and the flow is completely different. These people do not come either by boat or by foot. They come from Istanbul by planes through the illegal airport of Tymbou.
Meanwhile, the day before yesterday, the Police proceeded to arrest two women, aged 25 and 29, and a 36-year-old man, for migrant trafficking. In the vehicle where the two women (driver and front passenger) were in the rear seats as well as in the luggage compartment of the vehicle, six persons (4 men and two women). A 36-year-old man was later identified.
