Immigration overpopulation has exceeded 5% in our semi-inhabited country, said Interior Minister Nikos Nouris and referred to the shameful practice of Turkey's instrumentalization of the migration issue, which is becoming a new hybrid threat against Cyprus.
In his address at the launch of Andreas Morphitis' book "Lost Expectations", the Interior Minister referred to the statement that Cyprus secured last Friday in Luxembourg from the EU Home Affairs Ministers' Summit that dealt exclusively with the tragic situation in which the frontline countries find themselves with regard to migration, one of the dominant themes of the book we are introducing today.
As he stressed, after 3 years of painstaking efforts, exhausting meetings, against the views of extreme politicians and some parasitic NGOs, and after we had to raise our voices, put our hands on the table and walk out of meetings in protest, for the first time, the European Commission recognised the need for practical support for Cyprus both for the relocation of a number of migrants from our island, the guarding of the Green Line, but also for financial assistance to help us manage the migrant overpopulation that has exceeded 5% in our semi-inhabited country. This development, he added, does not allow for celebrations, but it does, if anything, allow us to decline.
Referring to the book, the Minister said that this collection of valuable articles and essays, more than six years old, is a source of written wealth, which aspires, both upon their first publication and by preserving them through the pages of this book, to be the wake-up call for a change in what has been distorted for decades in our country.
Particularly with regard to immigration, he said the author eloquently points out what, let me say, I have made my flag of information to all decision-makers. The shameful practice of Turkey's instrumentalization of the migratory issue which is evolving into a new hybrid threat against Cyprus with the obvious purpose and objective of a conscious effort to alter the demography of the island by channeling all these migratory hordes from our occupied land through the blind spots of the Green Line to the Republic-controlled areas.
He shares with us the same concerns, he has stood by us throughout the years in every possible way in our efforts to deal with the migration issue, realizing that it is not just another problem. It is, unfortunately, a national issue and we must manage it as such. It is a never-ending problem with multiple facets. Visible, but also unseen. With a humanitarian face on the one hand, but also with dimensions that confirm the action of migrant trafficking rings that instrumentalise human suffering and their need for a better life.
Referring to the author, he praised his clear voice and said that his concerns and worries for the better treatment of many serious issues that concern our country are presented in the form of proposals accompanied by assertive positions that are presented with courage to the decision-making centres.
In conclusion, he congratulated the author for his boldness and his unparalleled contribution to his country.
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