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By promoting the bill for the establishment of the Deputy Ministry of Migration and Asylum, the Government is implementing a pre-election commitment of the President of the Republic and, at the same time, creating the conditions for a more effective response to the migration issue, Minister of Interior Mr. Constantinos Ioannou.
The Minister of Interior attended today the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Interior, where the debate on the bill for the creation of the Deputy Ministry began. Speaking after the session, Ioannou said that the Deputy Ministry of Immigration "will have substantial and practical benefits in the management of the major problem of migration. The consolidation of services in a Deputy Ministry will have multiple benefits in terms of planning, coordination and oversight of the Departments."
This, the Minister continued, will bring much better results to the already very good results we have had in the last six months. However, Ioannou reiterated the cautious optimism regarding migratory flows, saying that a 50% reduction in arrivals of irregular migrants has been achieved, at the same time as a sharp increase in returns. "The balance is now positive and we all now believe that the establishment of the Deputy Ministry will have even better results in the management of the migration issue," the Interior Minister pointed out. Ioannou expressed his disagreement, noting that services such as the Asylum Service and the Immigration Department, which is a key cog in the functioning of the Ministry of State, will be fully transferred to the Ministry of State. As Ioannou explained, the Asylum and Immigration Service of the Police, due to constitutional provisions, cannot be transferred to the Deputy Ministry and for this reason, following the advice of the Legal Service, it was agreed that at an initial stage a memorandum of cooperation will be concluded with the Police and, at the same time, the creation of a service arm in the Deputy Ministry that will take over the duties of the Asylum and Immigration Service will be initiated. He clarified, however, that this, if achieved, will take time.
Asked to comment on concerns expressed by MPs about whether these memoranda will work effectively, the Interior Minister stressed that "the big picture is that a Deputy Ministry is being created which will house almost all services, such as the services for minors which are now in the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare. The only Service that will not be an integral part of the State Department is the Asylum and Immigration Service of the Police. That is the legal view that exists under the Constitution. That is why it will be done through the memorandum (the cooperation framework)." According to Ioannou, the memorandum will define the responsibilities and the framework of cooperation between the Deputy Ministry and the Police, in order to continue the smooth cooperation with the Asylum and Immigration Service that currently exists. "I want to give credit for the work done by the Asylum and Immigration Service. The results are there; because in order to have the returns that we have, the Police, through the AMS, play an important and essential role.
Finally, responding to concerns expressed by MPs about the representation of Cyprus in the EU or other international organisations and whether this will be done by the Deputy Minister of Immigration, Ioannou said that this is provided for in the bill. He said that according to the legal advice given, the Deputy Minister would be able to represent, noting that if there was a problem, then the representation would be made by the relevant Minister.
(MCI)
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