Following today's publication titled "Nouris knew and closed his eyes", which brings former Interior Minister Mr. Nikos Nouris knowing about the abuse that was taking place in the Population and Migration Records Department (PMRD) of the Ministry of Interior on the issue of appointments by agents, with him "turning a blind eye", the Ministry of Interior wishes to clarify that actions and measures were taken previously, without these seeing the light of day.
Since December 2021, with a directive of the former Minister, an effort to combat the phenomenon has been launched with the information and involvement of the Aliens and Immigration Service of the Police (YAM).
On 11 April 2022, the YAM, in response, forwarded suggestions for solving the problem to the Deputy Director of TAMP, while at the same time stating the difficulty of implementing specific actions due to the necessity of serving the thousands of Ukrainian refugees who arrived in our country at the same time, as well as the understaffing faced by the YAM's Provincial teams.
TAMP, in a series of letters between March and May 2022 to the Director General of the Ministry, provided a number of alternatives and recommendations for ending the phenomenon, which were evaluated. In this regard, the contractor for the management of the electronic system was requested to introduce safeguards, which ultimately did not yield the desired results.
It should be noted that, from the day the phenomena of abuse were observed, efforts were made to reverse the phenomenon, giving credit for time to take corrective actions, since it concerned an electronic platform, which was in force in the context of the transition to e-government, with the ultimate objective of serving the public.
Upon taking office, the former Minister, Mr. Constantine Ioannou, following the information received from the relevant Department, gave instructions for the eventual termination of the operation of this electronic system. The aim was to put an end to the phenomena of abuse, while the highest priority was to better serve the public.
It is noted that the new public service system implemented by the competent Department, includes both the arrangement of appointments, depending on the category of permits, and service without appointments, in order of priority.
(EFYs)
Contents of this article including associated images are owned by PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
Source
