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The large increase in the number of asylum applications from nationals of African countries, the repatriation of foreigners to their countries of origin, and the management of the problem in Chloraka, with a building in which foreigners were staying, were again raised in the Ad Hoc Committee of the Parliament on the Demographic Problem.
According to what the Chairman of the Committee and MP of ELAM, Linos Papagiannis, said after the meeting, the number of African nationals quadrupled in January. Asylum applications for January 2022 amounted to 1386, while for February they have so far reached 883, as DISY MP Prodromos Alabritis said in his statements.
In his statements to CNA, Yannis Sotiriades of the Aliens and Immigration Service, referred to the police's handling of the case of the guesthouse in Chloraka, from which the residents were asked to be removed by order of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration.
"In cooperation with the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare, rent allowances have been cut off from foreigners who continue to live there, in violation of the decree of the Ministry of Interior," Sotiriades explained to CNA.
He also said that such shelters exist elsewhere, both in Paphos and in other provinces. "We have conducted operations elsewhere, we are in a very good point and the situation has been controlled, but I cannot say that the problem has been solved, so we are continuing," he concluded.
Regarding the repatriation of foreigners, Sotiriades explained that in cooperation with EU countries and Frontex, there are organized operations to return foreigners to their country.
"One such operation took place on 19/1/22, for the return of 16 nationals of African countries, with a flight that stopped in Cyprus to pick up these people, and a similar operation is planned around the end of March, in cooperation with Greece, from where a flight will arrive to pick up a number of illegal immigrants originating from an Asian country," he said.
"Within the first 45 days of 2022, asylum applications of African origin have quadrupled," said Linos Papagiannis, Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee and ELAM MP. He noted that "although the number of people deported in 2021 has increased, proportionately there are more people coming than those leaving Cyprus."
He described as a "dangerous phenomenon" the fact that people who, he said, "do not have a particularly peaceful past" are presented as asylum seekers. He added that a serious problem is the "ghettoisation" of areas, and argued that there is "continuous inaction by the relevant ministries". Finally, he said that "it is dangerous that Cyprus still believes that the right way is full obedience to EU directives."
In statements after the committee meeting, Prodromos Alabritis, a DISY MP, said that "the figures for January 2022 show an increase in the number of people arriving in Cyprus from African countries" and stressed that "the vast majority of them are forwarded through Turkey and the illegal airport of Tympos."
In a statement after the committee meeting, Prodromos Alabritis, a DISY MP, said that "the figures for January 2022 show an increase in the number of people arriving in Cyprus from African countries" and stressed that "the vast majority of them are forwarded through Turkey and the illegal airport of Tympos. He added that Cyprus should seek EU assistance for the management of migration flows, which can contribute to the repatriation of foreigners, border surveillance (not including the line of confrontation) and with financial support for the country.
In response to a question about the state's responsibility for the percentage of foreigners in Cyprus, which amounts to about 25 per cent of the general population, he replied that this percentage includes community members who are legal residents and workers, and stressed that the case of illegal immigrants, especially from countries that are not in a state of war, should be examined in particular.
DIKO MP Zacharias Koulias said he referred to a "war crime" that Turkey is still committing today against Cyprus, through what he said was an official plan for the country's demographic change. He said that "there are 127,000 people from third countries in Cyprus, 100,000 Europeans and 18,000 political asylum seekers and 30,000 illegal immigrants, according to the services."
He said there is no control over the "exact number of illegal immigrants", which he claimed "amounts to 100,000", and raised the issue of the formation of "ghettos" in urban centres and the criminal activity of gangs. He made particular reference to the inability of the Welfare Office to meet the needs of Cypriots due to the volume of work resulting from the accumulation of migrants, and raised the issue of creating a separate service for migrant cases.
Source: KYPE
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