Filenews 11 June 2022
The targeted and strenuous efforts made by Cyprus over the last three years to take measures to support and discharge the Republic of Cyprus in the management of migratory flows, as of today, enter a new dimension. With their declaration yesterday, the 27 Ministers of the Interior, among others, recognize the situations that Cyprus and the European Union itself face in practical ways, and supports the need to create a Burden Reallocation Mechanism with a nominal reference to Cyprus.
As stated by the Ministry of Interior in a statement, the statement records that "relocations should primarily benefit Member States facing migrant landings from search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean and on the West Atlantic route and be applied in other cases to take into account the current situation of Cyprus and possible developments on the Greek islands". Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Spain and Malta, as the frontline Member States, are expected to benefit from the solidarity mechanism, with the proposal put forward by the French Presidency, either through the relocation of persons or through the provision of financial and/or logistical support.
At the same time, the Ministry clarifies that, despite the reservations expressed by a number of member states, it was possible to reach a preliminary agreement on the Regulations for the strengthening of the guarding of the external borders of the European Union and the prevention of abusive migratory flows. With this development, an important step has been taken towards the conclusion of the New Common European Asylum and Migration agreement, which will be based on a holistic approach, focusing on the equal sharing of responsibilities and solidarity among the Member States. In the near future, the processes will culminate in order to reach a conclusion on the various individual issues, such as the definition of the operational implementation of the framework, but also the determination of the number of people to be relocated from the frontline Member States.
Equally important for our country, however, stresses the Ministry of Interior, as a result of our continuous efforts, is the report made by the competent European Commissioner Ylva Johansson, to the Council, where she raised the issue of illegal crossings through the green line during her recent visit to Turkey, while she also spoke with officials from Pakistan and Bangladesh, who are two of the countries with the largest number of asylum seekers in the Republic of Cyprus asking for their cooperation to limit the phenomenon, but also to strengthen the return procedures of their nationals.
The Ministry of Interior welcomes the outcome of the Summit, the implications of which will be further discussed at the scheduled meeting of the Minister of Interior with EU Vice-President Margaritis Schinas in Nicosia next Saturday, June 18th.
