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- Ελληνικά
The priorities of the Ministry of Interior, as reflected in the Budget for the year 2024, were presented today before the Parliamentary Committee on Finance by the Minister of Interior Mr. Constantinos Ioannou.
Speaking after the session, the Minister of Interior said that "the Budget is balanced, it is developmental, 11% increased expenditure is envisaged in it and apart from being developmental, it also has a strong social orientation."
Speaking after the session, the Minister of Interior said that "the Budget is balanced, it is developmental, 11% increased expenditure is envisaged in it and apart from being developmental, it also has a strong social orientation. As he noted, the social character of the Budget will be implemented through radical, people-oriented reforms, which are grouped in 11 axes.
Referring to the main policies and reforms, Ioannou first mentioned the management of migration, with the establishment of the Deputy Ministry of Immigration as the frontline. He also pointed out that an important axis of the Budget is the implementation of the unified housing policy, as announced a month ago, with the revision and enrichment of existing Plans in mountainous, marginal and remote areas, as well as the implementation of new housing policies focusing on affordable housing. The third pillar is the strengthening of civil protection, an action for which a transnational agreement is already being developed with the Greek Government, which will provide expertise for the implementation of the 112 system. The fourth pillar of the strategy of the Ministry of Interior is the implementation of the Local Government Reform, and following and in the same context, the introduction of a series of policies to simplify development licensing, which is expected to reduce delays in the issuance of permits. "We have announced 22 actions over the past month, one of which is the removal of the requirement to submit planning and building permits for small developments, and 21 other actions with a specific timetable by next June, which will substantially simplify licensing procedures," he said in this regard.
Asked when the measure to abolish the obligation to issue building and planning permits for small developments (houses and small apartment buildings) will be implemented, the Minister of Interior noted that the new process has already started. He also stressed that, in view of the reform of local government, the Provincial Local Authorities will take over a large part of the licensing process, with the aim of reducing delays, partly caused by understaffing. To address the issue of understaffing, the Ministry of Interior has already advertised 105 posts at a cost of €4.5 million. At the same time, a huge effort is being made by the Department of Town and Country Planning, with 22 specific actions, with a timetable for completion in May 2024, through which the procedures for issuing planning and building permits will be simplified.
Regarding the management of migration, the Minister stressed that a major axis of the reforms is the creation of the Deputy Ministry. According to Ioannou, through targeted and specific actions that have been taken over the past eight months, whether they involve more than doubling the number of asylum examiners, resulting in a reduction in the time it takes to issue a decision from more than 21 months to three months, or the creation of an interdepartmental team, or the tightening of controls in cooperation with the Ministry of Labour to combat illegal work, or the information campaign in African countries, we now have tangible results.
"From March to October we have had a 50% reduction in asylum applications. In particular, from 15,000 applications in the March-October period last year, we have halved this year. In addition, in terms of departures, last year 5 800 people had left by October. This year, with the actions we have taken, 9 300 people have left, so we have almost doubled the departures. These are encouraging results and for the first time in the history of migration there is a positive balance. That is, from March to October, more people have left than have come to Cyprus and there is also a big reduction in terms of asylum seekers from Africa, more than 75%," Ioannou said.
In relation to the external dimension of the migration issue, the Interior Minister noted that "we are focusing on two efforts: the full implementation of the Action Plan for the Eastern Mediterranean, with the positive effects it has with a substantial reduction of arrivals through the Green Line, and secondly, we have taken an initiative as a state to make an effort to re-evaluate the status of Syria, because we believe that some areas of Syria are already being evaluated by competent organisations, such as the European Asylum Organisation, As the Minister said, the issue of the re-evaluation of Syria has been officially requested through his own statements in Councils of Ministers, while in the coming days a letter will be sent to his European counterparts as an official request for re-evaluation at EU level.
Finally, asked if there is any development on the issue of the fence, which was implemented as a measure to prevent migratory flows, Mr. Ioannou replied that there is no issue of a fence.
Finally, asked if there is any development on the issue of the fence, which was implemented as a measure to prevent migratory flows, Mr. Ioannou replied that there is no issue of a fence. He reiterated that the measures implemented in recent months have provided concrete data, with a halving of arrivals and an increase of more than 50% in departures. "So for us, there is no longer any question of a fence. It's different policies that we are pursuing. In consultation with Brussels to make admonitions and actions to the Turkish side, the information campaign in third countries brought a decrease from African countries. If it were not for the Syrian arrivals in the last two months from Lebanon, which were in double the number of previous years due to the war in Israel, the results would have been even much better," the Interior Minister concluded.
(MKE)
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