The effort for effective management of the migration issue has been and remains a top priority for the Ministry of Interior until the last day of our Government's term of office.
It is for this reason that I feel the need to congratulate the staff of the Ministry's Returns Office, who continue, uninterruptedly, the excellent work they do.
In the first month of 2023 alone, they succeeded in carrying out 1,172 returns of persons to their countries of origin compared to 250 in January 2022, before the operation of the Returns Office, a performance that creates the conditions and expectations for an even higher number of returns compared to the 7,600 achieved in 2022.
This performance, in addition to maintaining Cyprus as the leading country in returns among all EU Member States, clearly demonstrates the correctness of the decision to establish and operate the Office, which has already been recognised as an excellent move by the European Commission itself.
In addition to the people who staff the Office, I would also like to thank and congratulate all those involved in this effort.
The Civil Registry and Migration Department, the Asylum Service, the members of the Aliens and Immigration Service of the Police, the management and officers of FRONTEX and Europol and, of course, the Directorate-General for Home Affairs of the European Commission for their active support.
It is with these and a number of other targeted and effective policies that the Ministry of Interior has laid the foundations for the effective management of migration.
I would hope that the new government will not only adopt these actions, but will further strengthen them so that this national issue can be dealt with effectively.
(ΕΠ/ΣΧ)
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