During yesterday's proceedings of the session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), MEP Mr. Nicos Tornaritis, head of the Cypriot delegation to the Assembly, participated in a debate on the compatibility of the new European Union (EU) Pact on Immigration and Asylum with the European framework for the protection of human rights.
In his intervention, Mr. Tornaritis advocated the formulation of a common immigration and asylum policy, which addresses existing functional weaknesses and gaps on the one hand, and fully integrates the protection of the human rights of refugees and migrants on the other. Our first concern, he stressed, must be to protect the EU's external borders so that it is able to provide the necessary humanitarian aid, assistance and support in the long term to vulnerable people in real need, while focusing on the root causes of migration, strengthening cooperation with third countries and combating trafficking in human beings.
It is clear, said Mr. Tornaritis, that migration is a common challenge for all EU countries and as such must be addressed collectively by all European partners, taking into account the disproportionate burden borne by the frontline countries. The case of Cyprus, which faces the highest number of applications for international protection in relation to its population, coupled with the fact that these people arrive in the free areas from the occupied territories, makes it imperative that effective measures are taken.
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