Filenews 17 December 2023
The expenses for migration will be exorbitant in 2024, due to increased needs from flows in recent years, for new structures, for medical care, benefits and generally management of asylum seekers.
The amounts estimated to be spent in the New Year are particularly increased, since the construction of two structures and the many arrivals, increase the cost to many millions. For the needs of the Ministry of Interior alone, the cost of migration literally doubles in '24 compared to 2023, due to the new structures that are being erected and will offer relief solutions for both accommodation and detention until departure. Migration will be a problem that will concern Cyprus and Europe in the coming years, so now we are paying for the lack of structures that had to be done years ago.
According to data from the Ministry of Interior, the expenses of the Ministry of Interior, although they do not concern the total amount spent since many services are involved, are nevertheless particularly high. Specifically:
2021: €32,227,705 (actual expenditure)
2022: €42,953,245 (actual expenditure)
2023 (until October): €54,175,521
2024: €103,528,953 (budgeted expenditure)
The above amounts include expenses for:
-Staff, services (food, security, cleaning, transportation, policing, medical services, interpreters, management, etc.), consumables, building improvements/extensions in the Reception and Accommodation Centers (Pournara, Limnes, Kofinou).
– Staff employed exclusively in tasks related to asylum and migration (e.g. staff of the Asylum Service, staff in the Centers) as well as staff employed in Services/Departments, but also assigned to other duties (e.g. staff in the Administration of the Ministry, in the Civil Registry and Migration Department, etc.).
– European Funds Unit of the Ministry.
– Other expenses (e.g. operating expenses, other construction projects, etc.).
The above amounts do not include expenses for social benefits, health benefits, permanent structures for unaccompanied minors, the Administrative Court for International Protection, the Legal Service, staff expenses of the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare, expenses of the Ministry of Education and Culture, expenses of the Ministry of Labor and Social Insurance and for the Police.
At the same time, according to data provided by the Ministry of Finance at the request of ELAM MP Sotiris Ioannou, for the actual expenses of migration, in 2024 it is expected that they will be significantly increased, since it is estimated that they will total €196,024,405.
By June 2023, expenditure had reached €66,902,373 while in 2022 – a record year for arrivals of asylum seekers – they reached €112,447,584 and in 2021 expenditure amounted to €89,691,986. The total cost of migration for the Government over the last four years (not counting the second half of 2023) amounts to €465,066,348 The total amount recovered from the EU for the years 2021-2023 (in case of co-financing) amounted to only €29,452,799 (of which €24,736,754 related to the expenses of the European Funds Unit (MET) of the Ministry of Interior, €726,947 related to salary and operating expenses of institutions for unaccompanied minors, €11,363 related to staff and operating expenses of the Administrative Court for International Protection and €3,877,735 related to salaries of officers of the co-funded work of asylum seekers at the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare).
Social expenditure
Expenditure is divided into four categories: social benefits, health benefits, centres/structures and other expenditure. Social benefits include material reception conditions (concerns migrants who do not reside in the Centers/Facilities) whose costs are estimated at €36,000,000 for 2024, while in previous years they amounted to €16,572,770, until June 2023, €33,018,160 for 2022 and €34,949,168 for 2021.
Financial assistance to cover basic needs (food, clothing and footwear) and cover personal small expenses, including electricity and water costs, amounted to €28,872,139 million in 2021. €27,803,382 in 2022 and in 2023 (until June) at €14,336,715. At the same time, €4,175,429 were allocated for the rent allowance in 2021, €3,214,778 in 2022. and half of 2023, €892,045.
For the accommodation of asylum seekers in hotels, €1.901.600were spent in 2021, in 2022 €2.000.000 and in the first half of 2023, €1.332.220. For unaccompanied minors, expenses amounted to €3,704,118 in 2021, €9,369,980 in 2022 and €6,955,412 in the first half of 2023, while for 2024 this amount is increased as it is estimated to reach €14,713,100. These amounts include, among others, state aid to Non-Profit Organizations for unaccompanied minors, which in 2021 amounted to €862,890, in 2022 to €1,470,277, in the first half of 2023 to €1,483,540, while for 2024 it is estimated that €3,862,400 will be spent.
Training costs
In the category of education, which is also included in social benefits, in 2021 €5.075.045 were spent, in 2022 €6.773.768, in half of 2023 €3.961.270, while again in 2024 these expenses increase to €11.530.684. This increase is mainly due to expenditure on teaching Greek as a second language to children with a migrant biography, which in 2021 amounted to €4,565,842.00, in 2022 to €5,999,597, in the first half of 2023 to €3,486,597, while in 2024 they will reach €10,550,000.
Health benefits
Expenditure on health benefits in 2021 amounted to €8,393,722, in 2022 to €11,300,499, in the first half of 2023 to €7,312,698 and in 2024 it is estimated that €13,328,851 will be spent for this purpose.
European aid to the Republic of Cyprus
During the Programming Period 2014-2020, projects with total funding, from European and national resources, amounting to €116.7 million (€106.8 from EU funds and €9.9 from national funds) were implemented under the National Programmes of the Home Affairs Funds.
In addition, as Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou recently mentioned during the meeting of the Monitoring Committees of the Home Affairs Funds, additional funds were secured directly from the European Commission for migration management, resulting in the total expenditure on projects amounting to €126.9 million of EU and national funds during the 2014-2020 Programming Period.
For the Programming Period 2021-2027, he said, the European Commission approved an increased allocation of funds to Cyprus, under the Home Affairs Funds Programmes, amounting to €162 million. This amount includes €134 million from European funds and €28 million from national funds.
Also, recognising the disproportionate burden of migratory flows on Cyprus as a frontline Member State, the Commission directly approved additional funds, such as:
• Total €75.2 million from EU (€67.7 million) and national (€7.5 million) resources, intended for the construction of the Accommodation Center for Applicants for International Protection "Limnes" and the Pre-removal Center,
• Total €6.7 million EU funds to provide accommodation to displaced Ukrainians, fully funded by the EU.
• €31 million for the implementation of two specific actions, which concern the strengthening of administrative capacity and the upgrading of the infrastructure of the Social Welfare Services, in the field of unaccompanied minors.
In total, for the implementation of the Programmes and actions of the Republic of Cyprus, within the framework of the Programming Period 2021-2027, amounts totalling €276.4 million have been approved so far. At the same time, the European Commission has directly awarded to the International Organization for Migration in Greece an amount of €22 million for the upgrade of the Pournara First Reception Centre.
In the meantime, in addition to the financial support provided to the Republic by the European Commission, equally important is the support with staff provided under the Support Plan for Cyprus by the European Asylum Agency. The staff of the Organization employed in our country, provides services for examining asylum applications, staffing the Reception and Accommodation Centers, facilitating the relocation process, translation and training. At the same time, the Organization contributes to the equipping of the Centers with prefabricated offices and/or residential units. The approximately 240 people of the Organization who staff the competent departments, constitute the largest team of the Organization in a Member State and the total budget for 2022 amounted to €12 million.
Increased structures and staffing skyrocketed costs
The Ministry of Interior attributes the increased expenditure estimated for migration in 2024 to more effective migration management, which translates primarily into structures and staff increases.
As Margarita Kyriakou, press officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told "F", large expenses are included for infrastructure projects, such as the creation of the Pre-removal Center in Mennogeia with a capacity of 800 people, which will help in the process of returns. In addition, staff costs have increased due to the recruitment of examiners to speed up the examination of applications. Out of 30 examiners, another 27 were recruited last April and another 25 in October.
As Mrs Kyriacou explained, while 30,000 asylum applications were pending last March, these were reduced to 26,000. At the same time, the number of new applications submitted has decreased considerably. There were cases, he said, when an application took more than 20 months to be processed, whereas today a decision is given in three months. In addition, he notes that for 2024 there are funds for expenses for health care, for unaccompanied minors, for those who choose voluntary return where they are given an amount, plus the costs for their transport to leave. An important budget line is also for the operation of the Deputy Ministry of Migration.
€18.8 million for Centers and Structures
The costs for the operation of the Reception Centers and the accommodation structures for unaccompanied minors are also increased year by year.
For 2024, it is estimated that €18.8 million will be spent for the maintenance of these structures, an amount much increased compared to the current year. Specifically, expenses for the First Reception Center (KEPY) "Pournara" in Kokkinotrimithia, in 2021 amounted to €1.961.152 , in 2022 to €7.816.564, in the first half of 2023 to €3.999.826, while in 2024 the expenses are estimated to amount to €8.323.557. This is mainly due to the increase observed in personnel costs, which in 2024 doubles.
For the Accommodation Center "Limnes", in Mennogeia, expenses in 2021 amounted to €1.822.453, in 2022 to €3.141.382, in the first half of 2023 to €1.878.433 and in 2024 also the amount increases to €5.329.726. This includes expenditure on the construction of new chambers amounting to one million euros.
Regarding the Reception and Accommodation Center for Applicants for International Protection (KYFADP) "Kofinou", expenses in 2021 amounted to €938.016, in 2022 to €1.256.978, in the first half of 2023 to €414,822, while in 2024 it is estimated that they will reach €3.531.190. The increase is mainly due to expenditure on services that jumps from €519.347 in 2021, €205.662 in 2022 and €87.130 in the first half of 2023, to €1.978.005 euros for 2024, as well as to allowances to residents for small expenses, which from €260.166 in 2021, €248.868 in 2022 and €74.286 for the first half of the year 2023, increasing to €365,000 in 2024.
In 2024, €1,700,000 is added to the amount for the Centers and Structures for the lease of an Accommodation Center for Unaccompanied Minors, with the purchase of services. The space for the creation of this Center has not been found, as communities that attempted to establish it, reacted and as a result there has not yet been a decision.
