Filenews 1 December 2021
More than 10,868 asylum applications were submitted in Cyprus from the beginning of the year until the first week of November, while of the 48,357 persons who have applied for international protection since 2015, half, and more specifically 23,474, come from "safe countries" of origin. The data were presented by the Minister of Interior, Nikos Nouris, during the work of the 6th Monitoring Committee of the Home Affairs Funds.
Mr. Nouris also presented the five requests of the Republic of Cyprus, submitted by President Anastasiades to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. As he said, the President in his letter, dated November 10, demonstrated the problem and asked:
>> The activation of Article 78(3) of the Treaty on European Union and the adoption of temporary measures in favour of Cyprus to address the emergency situation of the massive influx of third-country nationals into Cyprus, such as the right to suspend the acceptance of new asylum applications until the situation becomes manageable.
>> The immediate establishment of a mandatory relocation scheme for Cyprus.
>> Emergency financial assistance to cover the extraordinary operating costs of the reception centers.
>> The provision of support, through financial assistance and equipment, for the surveillance of the green line.
>> The acceleration of the examination of the request for funding of Cyprus for the construction and operation of the new Hospitality Center "Limnes" and the construction of a pre-removal centre in the same area.
The Minister of Interior underlined that "Cyprus, for the fifth consecutive year, is the first member-state to receive the highest number of refugees and applicants for international protection in proportion to the population, with their percentage corresponding to 4.4% of the population of Cyprus. The situation has now reached a point that is outside the government's capabilities to control or manage these disproportionate numbers," he noted.
According to Mr. Nouris, for the year 2021, until the first week of November, more than 10,868 asylum applications have been submitted, of which 85% (9,206 applicants) have passed to the free areas from the occupied areas, through the green line.
Every month this year more than 1,000 new asylum applications are submitted, according to Mr. Nouris, while for the month of October alone more than 2,000 applications have been received and for November we are already recording 1,670 applications, which are expected to increase. It is noteworthy, he said, that the percentage of increase in asylum applications (percentage change) between the months of January – October 2021 amounts to 70% which corresponds to 10,083 people, compared to the corresponding 5,879 in the same period of 2020.
He again sounded the alarm, saying that "the country's asylum and reception system has surpassed its limits. In the First Reception Center "Pournara", with a capacity of 800 people, the number of residents has now exceeded 2,400 people with the capacity of this Center exceeding 300%. The country is in a state of emergency and there is absolutely no possibility of hosting more migrants", he stressed.
European aid is important
According to Nikos Nouris, the financial support received so far by the Republic of Cyprus from European funds, under the management supervision of the Ministry's European Funds Unit, undoubtedly contributed greatly in previous years, as "a number of important projects for migration management and internal security have been implemented and continue to be implemented", as he said.
These are 151 projects with a total budget of €116 million. of which almost €107 million are appropriations from the two European funds. Of these €39 million concern the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, €59 million the Internal Security Fund - Borders and Visas and €9 million the Internal Security Fund - Police Cooperation.
In addition, the Republic of Cyprus was granted by the European Commission as Emergency Aid of more than €10 million, which was used for projects such as the coverage of staffing and equipment needs of the "Pournara" First Reception Center, as well as the Administrative Court of International Protection, the reinforcement of the Asylum Service and the Civil Registry and Migration Department with personnel, in order to speed up the procedures for examining applications for international protection.
