[Cyprus Times] The President of the Republic of Cyprus briefed his counterparts on migration, stressing the need for the EU to take effective measures

Statement by the Government Spokesman, Marios Pelekanos on the participation of the President of the Republic in the work of the European Council in Brussels.

The President of the Republic, Nicos Anastasiades, participated in the afternoon proceedings of today's

European Council in Brussels, briefing his counterparts on the migration issue.

Specifically, according to the Government Spokesman, Mario Pelecanos, the President, among other things, informed his counterparts about the magnitude of the problem facing

Cyprus due to the highly increased migratory flows that, for a long time now, have made the Republic of Cyprus by far the first EU Member State in terms of the number of applications for political asylum in relation to its population.

Περαιτέρω, επεσήμανε πως, σήμερα,

το ποσοστό αιτητών ασύλου ή ήδη κατόχων καθεστώτος προστασίας φτάνει το 4,4% του πληθυσμού της Κύπρου, όταν την ίδια ώρα το ποσοστό αυτό, κατ’ αναλογία πληθυσμού, δεν ξεπερνά το 1% στα υπόλοιπα Κράτη Μέλη πρώτης γραμμής.

Ο Πρόεδρος Αναστασιάδης στάθηκε, επίσης, στο γεγονός ότι η

συντριπτική πλειοψηφία των προσώπων που αιτούνται ασύλου στην Κύπρο αφορούν σε πρόσωπα από ασφαλείς χώρες προέλευσης, τα οποία έφθασαν στα κατεχόμενα από την Τουρκία και από εκεί οδηγήθηκαν σε σημεία κατά μήκος της γραμμής κατάπαυσης του πυρός από όπου ακολούθως πέρασαν παράνομα στις ελεύθερες περιοχές.

The President of the Republic denounced the

unacceptable instrumentalisation of migrants by Turkey and stressed the need for the EU to take effective measures to prevent such phenomena, both from Turkey and from any third country that exploits human suffering in an attempt to gain alien political benefits.

He also referred to his

recent letter to the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council, in which he described the dramatic situation in Cyprus and the unbearable pressure on the State and the Immigration and Asylum services, and what is required from the EU to alleviate the problem.

After explaining that

Cypriot requests in no way negate the obligation of the Republic of Cyprus to support the right to apply for international protection or to continue the examination of ongoing asylum procedures, as enshrined in international and European law, President Anastasiades stressed the importance of immediately finding ways of practical assistance to Cyprus from the EU and its partners, which assistance should be specifically tailored to Cypriot specificities and needs.

One step in the right direction would be for the EU to assist in the immediate and compulsory return of persons whose asylum application has been finally rejected by the Cypriot authorities.Also, Cyprus should be provided with the capacity and means to manage and guard the Green Line, which remains our Achilles' heel, without it certainly constituting a border in any way.Finally, as the Government Spokesman, the President of the Republic said, the implementation by Turkey of the 2016 Declaration on migration, including vis-à-vis the Republic of Cyprus, is also of utmost importance.

Contents of this article including associated images are owned by Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times.
Sourcehttps://cyprustimes.com/politiki/en...in-anagki-i-ee-na-lavei-apotelesmatika-metra/