Filenews 22 November 2022 - by Michalis Hatzivasilis
The timetables for the examination of asylum applications are changed by law, the registration of applicants in "Pournara" is also changed, while a penalty will be imposed for those who do not comply with the procedures.
According to the recommendations, the deadlines for the examination of an application are shortened both hierarchically and in Court, the physical presence of the applicant in Court will now be required, the applicant's electronic card will be cancelled when it violates the regulations and they will lose benefits. These will be provided for in a bill being prepared by the Office of the Commissioner for Legislation commissioned by the Ministry of Interior, while one of the changes will concern the electronic connection of all the services involved so that the mistakes of the past do not exist.
According to Commissioner Louisa Christodoulidou Zannetou, this is a task that is quite difficult but extremely necessary for the Republic of Cyprus, especially at this time when the number of asylum seekers has reached 6% of the population. There are currently 28,392 pending asylum applications before the Asylum Service and 7,771 cases are pending before the Court of International Protection.
According to the Commissioner, the Refugee Law is from 2000. It has been 22 years since it was adopted and it has received a number of amendments and incorporation of European Union directives. It is commented on by many professionals who use it as illegible and difficult to implement, with references to many articles and unnecessary repetitions. This is one of the issues that will be addressed by the Commissioner for Legislation and the team of her Office specially composed of lawyers specializing in international law and dealing with this issue.
As he told us, the model of Greece, which had similar problems to Cyprus, is being studied. Cyprus is looking at the procedures there and the Greek law which is relatively recent and adopts the directives of the European Union and international conventions on the subject.
Because this is a law related to human rights, great care is needed and strict adherence to EU directives and conventions, stresses Ms. Zannetou. At the same time, however, the huge number of applications that are pending and submitted daily, challenges us to find legislatively the legal ways to handle these cases both at administrative and judicial level. We now need a change in our attitude, a review of our time procedures and above all better organization, training and continuous cooperation of the competent bodies through the use of technology. It should be noted that such an upgrade will be in full respect of our obligation as a state to issue within a reasonable time decisions on the fate of these people, i.e. whether they are beneficiaries of international protection or not.
At the moment, a meticulous examination and comparison is taking place of the laws of Cyprus and Greece and at the same time of the EU Directives that may have been harmonized in such a way that they can be improved. More specifically, there are certain provisions of the existing Refugee Law that are amenable to more stringent harmonization with EU directives. One such example is the definition of family reunification, which does not include family ties that were also established after entering the Republic. Another example is the harmonization with Regulation (EU) 2021/2303 which provides for the establishment of the European Union Agency for Asylum, which replaced and succeeded the European Asylum Support Office and is the partner and helper of the Republic in these matters.
As mentioned above, the drafting of the new law aims at both the administrative and technological upgrading of the handling of cases. An example of such an upgrade, the Commissioner said, is our proposal to create a separate Department in the Asylum Service called the Reception and Identification Department. This Department will be responsible for acting in the First Reception and Identification Centre, as "Pournara" is today, with the responsibility of receiving third-country nationals and stateless persons, informing them about their rights and obligations, their identification and registration, their medical control but mainly the separation of these people on the basis of their special conditions and vulnerability, individual consideration in order to determine whether the person is in need of special procedural guarantees, the determination of minority and the countries of origin. The new law will also clarify and strengthen the separation of applications for organisational purposes at the stage of examining their application.
Tighter time procedures
It may be premature to say now, but we also suggest that stricter time limits be set", underlines the Commissioner, for the examination of the applications and then for the procedures of the Court as well as for the personal involvement of the applicant in the proceedings. "Provision is also made for the obligation of applicants to comply with the regulations of the hotspots or accommodation centres and for their respective non-compliance related to the provision or not of material assistance. Also, provisions will be introduced with which respect and obligations will now be two-way both of the applicants to the state and of the state to the applicants. In addition, the way in which subsequent applications are handled, that the EU has considered in its wisdom that there is no limit to the number, should be improved. Great importance will be attached to cooperation not only with international or European organizations but also to cooperation between the services of the state."
In addition, there is an effort to technologically modernize all the procedures related to the application. More specifically, we suggest that the application certificate can be issued in the form of a card with electronic recording and renewal, as well as by any appropriate technological means. Such modernization also aims at the general automation of the Services, for example, in case of completion of the application there is an automatic cancellation of the application certificate, which is the document that gives all the rights. The same should apply to the Court of Justice which, when issuing its decision, should immediately inform the system and immediately enforce the removal order. Already, of course, the Supreme Court, with a new procedural regulation of September 2022, has shown its willingness and determination to review procedures to deal with the huge number of applications before the Courts.
"At this stage we are in constant cooperation with the Ministry of Interior and its competent Departments for an exchange of views on the provisions of the bill and the Commissioner and her team will do their utmost due to the extreme seriousness of the issue to be completed by the end of the year, to be put to the necessary public consultation."
INTERVENTION
Increase of officers
It is high time that everyone did their job. Asylum seekers also have their rights, so does the state. The procedures are there to change. When an application is submitted, it must be examined with fast procedures and at the same time those applicants who do not comply with the regulations must be cut off from their benefits.
At the same time, instead of hiring 300 special police officers to try not to bring in new applicants, why isn't there an increase in the number of officers who will examine applications in order to give an answer... yesterday. You can't have applicants waited for six or 12 months and not increase applications. But if you give an answer immediately, then someone will consider applying.
