Filenews 26 September 2023
Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou has given instructions for Cypriot authorities to prepare in case reports of a mass departure of migrants from Lebanon to Cyprus are verified, the Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Office, Loizos Hadjivassiliou, told CNA.
Following information from arriving migrants on Monday that about 500 people are in a specific area of Lebanon waiting to get on boats bound for Cyprus, the Minister of Interior contacted his Lebanese counterpart on Monday evening and, according to Hadjivassiliou, received the assurance that he would deal with the matter.
"On Monday, September 25, two boats were spotted sailing off the sea area of Cape Greco, while a rescue operation had to be carried out since the boats were heavily loaded. Eventually, the passengers of the boats, 95 people from Syria, the vast majority of them men, were safely transferred to Cape Greco and after their details were recorded, they were transferred to the Pournara Temporary Accommodation Center", said the Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' office.
In the context of the interviews taken by these individuals, he continued, "the translators and the competent Officers noticed that several of them reported that they were the first group to arrive in Cyprus. They also said that around 500 people gathered at a specific point in Lebanon and were waiting to enter boats to sail to Cyprus.
The Ministry of Interior, he said, was "alarmed by this information and as a result Minister Constantinos Ioannou contacted his Lebanese counterpart last night. Essentially, the agreement made with Lebanon on the exchange of information reached during the Minister's last visit to the neighbouring country was activated."
On Lebanon's side, he continued, "there was a commitment that they would address the issue and take action. This commitment satisfies us to the extent that we can limit the flow of people from this country," he said, adding that "this is a country with two million refugees from Syria and it is not easy for the authorities to prevent boats from leaving."
As Mr. Hadjivassiliou said, "instructions were given by the Minister of Interior to make the necessary preparations for the reception of these people, in case the information about a mass departure of migrants is verified."
At the same time, he referred to an "informal understanding, following the recent sending of a letter to the Lebanese authorities, to strengthen cooperation between us, so that it is possible to stop the vessels, so that there are no issues raised on the issue of returns. We believe that it is much easier for Lebanon itself to stop the departure of boats than to then carry out the process of returning refugees."
He also noted that "after the strengthening of measures and the contacts we had abroad, which made it more difficult for migrants to arrive through the opposition line, it seems that there has been a movement on the part of organized networks, which are now oriented towards the sea transport of these people."
Replying to a question, he replied that "the Minister of Interior constantly expresses cautious optimism on this issue, but it seems that in general we are doing well. The reduction of the processing time of an asylum application from 9-21 months was reduced to a maximum of 1-3 months, thus significantly helping the voluntary return and deportation of these persons."
For now, he continued, "the measures taken by the Ministry of Interior seem to be paying off and at the moment we are at over 50% reduction. The conditions in the detention facilities of migrants are better, upgrades have been made in these areas, the period for examining asylum applications has been reduced, the number of officers examining these applications has increased and the process of deportation of illegal residents in Cyprus has been accelerated," he said.
Replying to another question, the Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that "it seems that during the summer period migratory flows by sea are increased".
CNA
