Filenews 10 May 2024 - by Despina Psiliou
Cyprus ranks third among EU Member States in terms of expulsions of third-country nationals during 2023. Specifically, 7,775 citizens were ordered to leave our country. These are Eurostat data on immigration enforcement.
A total of 484,160 non-EU citizens were ordered to leave an EU country, according to the same data. This number increased by 4% compared to 2022, when it was 466,350 citizens.
Following a withdrawal order, 111,185 citizens were returned to another country, 91,465 of them non-EU. Deportations increased by 25% compared to 2022, when they were 88,910.
France reported the highest number of expulsions of third-country nationals (10,625). It is followed by Germany (10,290), Cyprus (7,775), Sweden (7,670), Poland (6,880), Austria (6,780), Croatia (6,745), Spain (5,995), Greece (5,820).
Georgians (10,345) topped the list of non-EU citizens who returned to another country, followed by Albanians (7,810) and Turks (5,595).
During 2023, 118,935 non-EU nationals were refused entry into EU territory. The number is down 16% compared to 142,420 a year earlier.
A total of 1.27 million people were found illegally in one of the EU countries, an increase of 13% compared to 1.12 million in 2022.
