A slew of problems has been brought before the house interior committee over the creation of a deputy ministry for migration and asylum, it emerged on Thursday, ahead of a committee session to discuss the government’s proposal to create the new ministry.
In a letter to Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou, the head of the house committee, Akel MP Aristos Damianou said that there were legal issues with the matter, and also the public servants’ union Pasydy had raised staffing, as had the social welfare services, he said.
Damianou said that MPs had requested the ministry provide the legal background based on which the executive power decides on the establishment of deputy ministries.
Attaching a copy of the proposed bill, Damianou said: “I am referring to the above bill [ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DEPUTY MINISTRY OF IMMIGRATION AND ASYLUM] which is being studied by the house interior committee and I would like you to inform us in writing, as soon as possible, whether an opinion has been requested from the attorney-general of the Republic regarding the legality of the establishment and the mode of operation of deputy ministries in the Republic, either during the drafting of the bill in question or at an earlier stage, during the drafting of bills with a similar purpose.”
He added that if such an opinion exists it should be sent to the committee, as the issue of legality for the proposed deputy ministry was raised at a session in October.
Regarding the issue of the deputy ministry, the interior minister, and representatives from the attorney-general’s office have been called to debate.
In the meantime, the Institute of Demographic and Immigration Policy, which in recent years has been dealing with the issue of the effects of migration in Cyprus, submitted proposals for amendments to the bill for the establishment of the deputy ministry of migration and asylum.
According to the president of the Institute, Andreas Morphitis, it is a necessity to introduce a provision in the bill by which the civil registry and migration department and the port police would be transferred to the new deputy ministry.
“Following the standards of other European countries, but also taking into account that the only operational arm, both for the issues of deportations and for the protection of the Republics external borders, is the police, its inclusion under the new deputy ministry is necessary,” Morphitis told daily Politis.
Meanwhile, Pasydy raised several issues with the proposed ministry as most of the employees of the civil registry office are on contract and not permanent.
Under the proposal for the ministry the civil registry department would be transferred to the deputy ministry.
The union said that the employees at the department are mostly new hires, who are just out of university. It proposed that the staff need to be more specialised, and positions will need to be created for permanent specialist staff.
“We believe that due to the current situation with migration flows and taking into account the general irregular situation in our neighbouring countries, the asylum service should be staffed with organisational positions and the issue of its structure should be immediately revisited so that it is able to implement its difficult task,” Pasydy said.
Complaining that the structure and staffing of the asylum service was approved by the parliament about two years ago, the union said however that until today the said service still does not have a structure.
“The usual tactic of seconding employees from other ministries/departments finds us diametrically opposed, especially if in this case the secondments are planned to be made by the social welfare services. It is an indisputable reality that in this service the number of officers is insufficient to cover existing service needs, resulting in an excessive workload,” the union said.
In the statement from Pasydy, there is also a statement from the social welfare department employees, who have said that they will not accept others from the department being seconded to the proposed ministry, aside from the ones that are already serving at the asylum service as part of EU programmes.
Aside from the proposed deputy ministry, the committee will also be discussing an issue raised by the Disy MPs, who want to be informed further about the government’s plans to establish centres for the protection of teen migrants.
The Disy MPs Nikos Georgiou and Nikos Syka have said that the government is being secretive about the matter, causing people in areas rumoured to be pegged for establishing the teen migrant centres to protest, as is the case in Yermasoyia and Zygi.
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