Another important agreement was reached today by the Republic of Cyprus to strengthen the sector of returns of those whose asylum applications have been rejected, which is one of the most important objectives for the Ministry of Interior in the effort to relieve the country from the excessively increased flows.
On the sidelines of the EU Home Affairs Ministers' Meeting, the Minister of Interior signed with the Executive Director of FRONTEX, Mr. Fabrice Leggeri, the Operational Action Plan agreed in Nicosia a fortnight ago. The signing of the Action Plan puts the cooperation between the Republic of Cyprus and FRONTEX on a new basis, significantly enhancing the support and operations of the Agency in Cyprus.
The Minister of Interior, thanking Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri for the support provided to the Republic of Cyprus, announced the creation of a Returns Office in the Administration of the Ministry of Interior in order to maximise the use of the assistance that FRONTEX will provide in order to simplify and accelerate procedures and shorten times.
In another development, the Minister of Interior had a meeting today in Brussels at the Belgian Ministry of Interior with his Belgian counterpart Sammy Mahdi, responsible for Asylum and Immigration, with the sole topic of discussion being cooperation between the two countries on the return of Congolese nationals to their country. A first joint return flight to Congo has already taken place with the assistance of the Belgian government, while the two Ministers agreed to increase the number of flights at regular intervals in order to help Cyprus, which has recently recorded an increased number of arrivals from that country.
(EFYs)
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