Filenews 18 January 2026
A large-scale coordinated police control operation to locate third-country nationals, who are illegally residing in Cyprus, was carried out today by the Police.
During the control operation, the members of the Police proceeded to arrest 31 persons of various nationalities, who, as it has been established, remain illegally on the territory of the Republic of Cyprus. Seven of those arrested have already been deported/repatriated to their countries of origin, while the procedures for deportation/repatriation for the rest of the arrested are progressing.
The police operation started at 6 am today and continued until 12 noon, in all provinces, with the participation of members of the Aliens and Immigration Service - YAM, as well as members of the Sub-Directorate of Green Line Surveillance and Dealing with Migration Flows.
The strategy followed over the last three years seems to bring positive results in dealing with migration flows since in the year 2025, through voluntary and forced return procedures, 11,742 migrants who resided illegally in Cyprus have been repatriated, while in 2024, 10,092 persons were repatriated.
At the same time, in 2025, 2,444 irregular migrants arrived in Cyprus while in 2024, 6,109 arrived. In 2022, 17,434 irregular migrants had arrived.
