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Statements by the Minister of Interior Mr.Konstantinos Ioannou
The Asylum Service has proceeded with the recruitment of 25 additional asylum examiners, with the ultimate goal of improving the time of examination of asylum applications. The recruitment of new staff is a key pillar of the effort to manage the migration issue, where tangible results are already being recorded. Indicatively, it is noted that in recent months more than 1,800 applications per month are being processed, compared to an average of 1,000 processed in 2022.
As a result of the faster processing of applications, access to benefits and work for rejected asylum seekers has been cut off and the process for voluntary return to their country of origin has been promoted. In addition, the prompt examination of asylum applications acts as a deterrent to the arrival of new migrants. Typically, returns have increased by 50%, at the same time as migrant arrivals have decreased by 50%.
At a briefing meeting held today, in the presence of the Minister of Interior Mr. Constantinos Ioannou, the 25 new members of the Asylum Service were briefed by the Head and Officers of the Service on the tasks and objectives set by the Ministry for the management of asylum applications. It is noted that the new staff will undergo accelerated training and will take up their duties from the beginning of November.
In his statements, the Minister of Interior expressed confidence that the new staff will help strengthen the Asylum Service. "We are implementing a pre-election commitment by President Christodoulides to strengthen and speed up the processing of asylum applications. We have already doubled the number of examiners and with 25, more than doubled the number. We expect to examine around 2,300 applications per month, while at the moment, asylum applications, with the reduction we have achieved, have reached around 600-700," Ioannou said. He said that with the new staff, there will be the possibility to examine applications from the 30,000 that have been pending all this time.
"At the moment we have managed to reduce the examination time from one to three months, which is a disincentive for someone to come to Cyprus, because with the examination and any rejection -because the majority are rejected-, the benefits and the right to the labour market also stop."
Asked to provide data on migrant arrival flows, the Interior Minister said that the final figures for the month of September are expected, noting, however, that the preliminary figures are very encouraging. "The data from April to the end of August, compared to last year, show that we have received 50% fewer applications for political asylum (from 12,000 last year they have decreased to 5,800 this year) and, at the same time, returns have increased by 50%, from 3,200 to 4,800," Ioannou said, adding that the picture is similar for the month of September. The effort, he continued, is to reduce the flows and increase the returns, which is currently being achieved.
Asked if there have been any developments in the issue that arose last week with the information about the arrival of a large number of Syrians from Lebanon and the contacts made with the Lebanese authorities, the Interior Minister said that there is daily contact with the relevant authorities in Lebanon. He added that in a communication, a senior official of the Lebanese Government conveyed the country's thanks for Cyprus' position on the European Union's support for Lebanon. "We put forward the position that Lebanon should be supported by the EU since it has 2.5 million Syrian refugees, unlike Turkey which is receiving huge financial aid."
He said assurances were also given that all necessary measures are being taken. "At the moment we have not had any developments, nor the arrival of new boats. This is good and we are waiting for Lebanon's response to the five points I had raised in my letter of cooperation and support for the country in terms of increasing their capacity for maritime surveillance," the Interior Minister concluded.
Finally, it was noted that the number of examiners has tripled in recent months. It is recalled that last April 27 examiners were recruited in the Asylum Service, while the new recruitments bring the total number of examiners to 82.
(MKY)
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