-
.
- Русский
Following his statements regarding the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers to approve the bill for the creation of the Deputy Ministry of Immigration and Asylum, the Minister of Interior Mr. Constantine Ioannou answered questions from journalists.
Asked whether services will be moved from the Ministry of Interior to the Deputy Ministry, he replied that "the Asylum Service and the Immigration Service will now be part of the Deputy Ministry of Immigration." He added that some services from the State Welfare Ministry that handle issues of vulnerable immigrants and unaccompanied minors, benefits and so on will also be included.
To another question from a reporter whether the House of Representatives will pass the bill before it is closed, Ioannou said that the goal is to pass it as soon as possible.
"I will talk to the chairman of the Interior Committee," he said. "I think they all understand the need to get this bill passed as soon as possible," he said, adding that additional time will be required after passage. "The timelines depend on when it is passed. Once it is passed, the specific law comes into effect and then we enter the implementation process," the Minister said.
Asked to provide an update on the current immigration situation, the Minister, after referring to data from the press conference he presented 10 days ago, he said that so far it seems that "the measures we are taking in terms of returns are working."
Comparing last year's March-May quarter with this year's, he pointed out that "returns have more than doubled." Moreover, he added, in the April-May period, for the first time in many years, fewer total migrant arrivals than returns were recorded.
He noted that in recent months there has also been a decrease in the arrivals of irregular migrants, which he attributed "to external factors, but also to the measures taken by the Republic of Cyprus, always in consultation with the European Union."
In response to a journalist's statement that a large number of irregular migrants have entered the labour market, the minister explained that under the existing legislation, asylum seekers are entitled to work in certain sectors. "That is why our goal is to speed up the asylum examination," he said. "With the doubling of examiners that we have done in the last two months," he said, the aim is to examine applications as quickly as possible in order to terminate both benefits and the right to work."
He added that, in parallel, campaigns will be launched with the relevant services of the Ministry of Labour to identify any illegal workers.
Next, the Interior Minister noted that the returns of third-country nationals have more than doubled. He referred to the voluntary return scheme, saying that financial incentives, co-funded by the EU, are given for migrants to return to their country of origin.
Following press reports of a large number of migrants staffing low-paid jobs, a journalist asked whether there might be pressure. The Minister replied in this regard that "and accepting pressure does not mean succumbing to pressure." He reiterated that in cooperation with the Ministry of Labour there will be a campaign to combat undeclared work.
(EFYs)
Contents of this article including associated images are owned by PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
Source
