Cyprus Mail 17 March 2025 - by Cyprus News Agency
Cyprus has managed to repatriate around 18,000 foreigners who did not have the right to stay in the Republic since the beginning of the Christodoulides government, while for 2024, Deputy Migration Minister Nicholas Ioannides said “We have achieved for the first time the repatriation of more foreigners than those who entered the Republic,” Ioannides said on Saturday, in his address on behalf of the President of the Republic, at the Annual Ball of the “Agios Georgios” association in Avgorou.
According to Ioannides, in its more than seventy years of existence, the association has a rich and important activity in both the national struggles, but also in the fields of culture and sports.
“In a country that has been experiencing the wounds of the Turkish occupation for more than 50 years, the action of clubs and associations like yours, which offer substantial work and invest in the young generation, is more urgent than ever. Your contribution to the spiritual and moral cultivation of your members, the young people of the region, as well as to the strengthening of the social fabric is a valuable asset for our society. Having family roots in Famagusta District myself, I feel proud to be among you tonight, as we share common values and a vision for the future,” he said.
Referring then briefly to the mission and work of the relatively newly established, as he said, Deputy Ministry of Migration and International Protection, as well as to the importance the President of the Republic attaches to migration management, Ioannides said that Cyprus’ proximity to the Middle East makes it a frontline state, since irregular migration flows created by the continuous armed conflicts in the region are directed towards the island.
“The Republic of Cyprus is a state that respects and observes its international obligations in relation to the provision of international protection to those persons who are entitled to it. After all, throughout time Cyprus has hosted migrants, while we Cypriots have been experiencing refugeeism for 50 years on our own island. However, as a small island state under occupation, our capacity to accommodate asylum seekers is limited,” he said.
He added that due to the identified need to develop and implement a unified and integrated strategy on migration and asylum, the Christodoulides Government established the Deputy Ministry of Migration and International Protection.
He also said that the main pillars of this policy are the prevention of irregular flows and the reduction of arrivals, a faster procedure for the examination of asylum applications, the reduction of asylum abuse by legal migrants, the fight against undeclared/illegal work and smuggling networks and, finally, the creation of more appropriate reception facilities, which also take into account the concerns of the Cypriot society.
“Thanks to the measures taken by the Christodoulides Government, the Republic of Cyprus has managed to repatriate since the beginning of its mandate around 18,000 foreigners who who did not have the right to stay in the Republic. For 2024, we have achieved for the first time the repatriation of more foreigners than those who entered the Republic (6,100 arrivals – almost 11,000 departures). For the first two months of 2025, the arrivals of irregular migrants were 368 persons, while voluntary returns and deportations amounted to 2,610. This allows for faster processing of pending applications for international protection and eases the pressure on the Republic of Cyprus from the thousands of persons who are not entitled to remain on its territory,” he said.
He added that the Deputy Ministry’s aim is to pursue more intensively the policy of deterring irregular migration flows and repatriations, while modernising the legal migration system in a way that better serves Cypriot citizens and contributes positively to the development of the economy, citing as an example an area in Famagusta and Larnaca Districts, which, he said, has a long-standing need for legal migration in the fields of agriculture, livestock, catering, services and tourism.
