As a "tank" with a limited capacity, which at the moment has started to overflow and flood the whole country, described the situation with the immigration by the Director General of the Ministry of Interior, Costas Constantinou, who attended the Ad Hoc Parliamentary Committee to study the demographic problem.
At the same time MPs denounced the involvement of immigrants with organised crime.
Characteristically, he likened the problem to a reservoir that has a specific capacity, just as Cyprus has a specific capacity to integrate new people, he said. When you cross that limit, he said, the reservoir overflows. First, he said, the people who are close to the tank feel it, and it gradually floods the whole country. For this reason, he said, we are now seeing the problem even in the most expensive areas of the cities. He noted that the only way to manage the situation is to reduce the numbers.
He also said that the danger posed by migration is now also about the renewal of the population. He noted that last year in Cyprus there were 10,700 births when in the same period there were 13,000 and more asylum applications.
At the same time he said that in the first half of 2022, there were 4,250 births in Cyprus when in the same period there were 12.000 arrivals. "This thing is not happening in any other country," he said.
The Asylum Service, he added, has broken all records for expediting procedures but has as many arrivals. He said last year it processed 16,000 applications. However, he said there are currently 31,315 applications pending at the asylum service and the administrative court for international protection. He also said that last year there were 13,000 negative responses and a record number of returns, but arrivals and new applications were several times higher than returns.
As measures to deal with the phenomenon, he said that inflows should be limited,[/B] procedures should be accelerated and more agreements should be made to return those whose applications have been rejected.
It is estimated that of the 30,000 migrants whose applications were rejected, 13.000 live in the Republic and must return home.
Returns to countries of origin were 2,300 for 2021 and 2,770 in the first half of 2022.
Constantinou said that applications spiked after September 2021 when Turkey, which instrumentalizes migration, opened the route of Sub-Saharan African countries, leading them through the line of confrontation to the Republic of Cyprus, after they come from Istanbul and Tybos. He said the situation has since escalated with about 100 people a day crossing the green line. He also said that those who cannot come by air come by sea and end up in Morphou Bay.
He said that for the first half of 2022, refugee protection status was granted to 121 cases, proving that mainly economic migrants come to Cyprus.
Deputy Minister of Welfare Anastasia Anthousi, who also attended the Commission, said that the allowances from public funds amount to 40 million euros per year, while the European Union, only pays for infrastructure. Rental costs, she said, amount to 14.5 million euros a year.
She also said that there are constant checks on the places where migrants live and on the possibility of illegal work. If illegalities are detected, she said, then the benefits are immediately cut off.
Responding to MPs' complaints, Ms Anthousi said there was information that migrants had other income in addition to the benefits.
The chairman of the committee, ELAM MP Linos Papagiannis said that he had announced that he would provide the police with a list of car numbers indicating the involvement of asylum seekers in illegal activities, mainly concerning the sale of drugs, with large-scale activities mainly in tourist areas such as Ayia Napa. There are, he said, clear suspicions that they come from Turkey and carry drugs with them.
He also said that, according to figures submitted to the Commission, the Republic of Cyprus has paid more than half a billion from its own expenses in the last six years, while for this year by the end of the year it will exceed half a billion.
He also referred to the problem of migrants refusing to submit to the relevant checks to determine whether they are really minors and proceed with their deportation, and said that every day workers leave the agricultural sector to apply for asylum, creating a huge problem for producers.
DISY MP Prodromos Alambritis said that in relation to the population of Cyprus the numbers are huge which makes it difficult for the competent ministries to deal with the problem. He added that the processing of applications and returns had been expedited, while EU assistance was requested for the creation of a pre-removal centre. Obviously, he added, other measures should be taken to curb the phenomenon but also to hold Turkey accountable.
DIKO MP Zacharias Koulias said that the red line has been crossed on issues of security, health, demography and communicable diseases. He said the government should denounce to the EU the real culprits who are the Turkish state, the Turkish army and Turkish airlines, instead of talking about traffickers. He also noted that in the last six years the EU has paid 200 million euros for Cyprus on migration, when the Cypriot state spent half a billion euros, while it pays 38 million a year for Cypriot refugees.
DPA - Co-operation MP Alekos Tryfonides referred to the measures taken by both the Ministry of Interior and the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare to better control the place of residence of migrants, such as giving prepaid cards to informal migrants for specific payments, while sending money abroad will be banned. He said that the party supports all efforts since the immigration issue is a huge problem and they are in favour of more being taken to tackle "this tide that threatens the Republic of Cyprus, Cypriot Hellenism and our demographic entity". He also appealed to landlords who rent houses to migrants to be careful where they rent them and not to put more people than allowed.
Source: CNA
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