Cyprus has repatriated close to 7,000 migrants during 2022 and is a model within the EU for such returns, according to Interior Minister Nicos Nouris.
Nouris has long campaigned for boosting repatriations amid frustrations over many declined asylum seekers remaining in Cyprus. In July of this year, he said that 2,770 had been returned as of that time.
His upbeat comments on Thursday were made during a presentation at the High-Level Network on Returns in Nicosia – attended by representatives from EU member states, Frontex and Europol.
The interior minister said that the goal is close coordination between member states in order to ensure an effective system of returns across the EU.
Costas Constantinou, permanent secretary at the interior ministry, told MPs in October that some 17,000 people have crossed into the territory controlled by the Republic – almost double the number recorded in 2021. Meantime the number of unaccompanied minors has tripled.
The heightened focus on repatriations comes amid a seeming lack of effectiveness on the ground in reducing arrivals, despite a slew of measures enacted by the government.
In a bid to stem the flow the government enacted measures including the controversial placement of barbed wire across sections of the buffer zone and introducing sweeping new policies.
The ministry explained for all the rejected asylum seekers, Cyprus currently implements two ‘Assisted Voluntary Returns’ programmes.
One is by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the other by the Civil Registry and Migration Department.
But the IOM states that for the programmes to be successful it requires the cooperation of the migrants, civil society, governments in both the host and transit countries as well as the country of origin.
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