Filenews 15 June 2023
The Council of Ministers, in its meeting today, approved the bill entitled "Law regulating the "Establishment of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum and related issues".
As stated in a statement by the Minister of Interior, Constantinos Ioannou, at the end of the Ministerial meeting, "the creation of this Deputy Ministry was a key pillar of government policy.
With this Deputy Ministry, the formulation and implementation of a comprehensive strategy on migration and asylum will be placed under a single body, in order to ensure that the phenomenon is better addressed and at the same time that protection is provided to the legal beneficiaries, within the framework of the international and European obligations of the Republic, with respect for human rights.
In particular, it is expected that the creation of the Deputy Ministry will contribute to the more effective management of the various parameters related to migration and asylum, based on the following priorities:
(a) preventing irregular flows and combating networks of smugglers, (b) accelerating procedures concerning asylum applications, especially manifestly unfounded ones, (c) combating undeclared work, and
(d) improving conditions in reception and accommodation centres.
Also, other priorities of the said Deputy Ministry will concern:
(e) the integration of legally residing third-country nationals through the appropriate utilization of qualifications/skills that are lacking in the Cypriot labor market, (f) the promotion of a policy for Unaccompanied Children,
and (g) the implementation and implementation of effective return procedures for third-country nationals who do not retain the right to stay in the Republic.
This bill is expected to be submitted immediately to the House of Representatives for a vote."
