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- Ελληνικά
The Republic of Cyprus and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX) have reached an agreement on the conclusion of an Operational Return Action Plan, which is expected to be signed in the coming days.
This was announced inter alia in statements to journalists by the Minister of Interior Mr. Nikos Nouri and the Executive Director of FRONTEX, Fabrice Leggeri, following a meeting in the presence of officials.
After welcoming the FRONTEX Executive Director, the Minister said that "the continuous visits of European officials in recent weeks, culminating in the visit of the Vice-President of the European Commission, Mr. Margaritis Schinas this coming weekend, show both the EU's practical interest and its understanding of the problem Cyprus is facing in the migration issue."
Mr. Nouris thanked Mr. Fabrice Leggeri for his visit, for his sincere interest and his continuous effort, as he said, to support Cyprus.
He noted that during their meeting a very constructive discussion and exchange of views took place, especially on the issue of the return of third country nationals to their countries of origin.
"Cyprus is well known to be the member state with the highest number of arrivals, especially in the last year and of course, this difficult situation in which we find ourselves needs the direct and effective support of EU agencies, with FRONTEX in the first place, on return issues", he said.
He stressed that the root cause of the problem Cyprus is facing has been diagnosed and is called Turkey, and the arrivals from Turkey. The minister added the axes on which Cyprus is focusing its action: first, the management of the Green Line and second, increasing the rate of returns.
He noted that with the Executive Director and his team, the issue of returns was discussed with the aim of maximising them and noted that this will also be achieved through the conclusion of agreements with the countries of origin, through the assistance and support of the organisation.
He recalled that this is something he discussed during recent meetings with his European counterparts, both with the Frenchman, who holds the EU Presidency, and with other countries. He gave examples of cooperation with other member states such as Belgium, with whom a joint flight to Congo was conducted, Germany, with whom a return flight has been agreed in the coming weeks, and the flight to Vietnam.
He informed that a very good process had taken place in the previous weeks, and thanked both his colleagues in the Ministry of Interior and the Aliens and Immigration Service of the Cyprus Police and the FRONTEX team.
Mr. Nouris announced that an agreement was reached today to conclude an Operational Action Plan which includes, inter alia, "enhancing the support that the Agency provides to the Republic of Cyprus through the secondment of additional experts in the field of returns and verification of third country nationals, the operation of regular repatriation flights with FRONTEX bearing the full costs, as well as technical support for the upgrading or development of systems for the management of migration flows and returns."
"This Operational Action Plan that will be signed in the coming days", he said, "comes on top of a number of other agreements that we have already concluded or are about to conclude in the very near future in order to support the Republic of Cyprus to cope with the emergency situation in which it finds itself due to the daily mass arrivals that we are receiving at 85% from the Green Line, all coming from the occupied territories via Turkey".
Thanking the Executive Director again, Mr. Nouris underlined that Cyprus, as a frontline Member State that is currently receiving the migratory burden, has precisely this need for support from the EU.
"I believe that what we have discussed, agreed and what we will co-sign in the coming days under this agreement is practical proof of FRONTEX's assistance, support and solidarity with the Republic of Cyprus", he concluded.
Fabrice Leggeri, for his part, thanked the Minister for the excellent cooperation, saying that there had been a constructive discussion, and said that fruitful technical discussions had preceded between the working groups with the aim of maximising returns.
The role of the Agency, he explained, is to support the returns and repatriation of irregular migrants back to their countries of origin using the Agency's instruments.
He said that the aim is to strengthen the missions of the Agency's permanent body in Cyprus to provide expertise on return issues, as well as to organise consular missions, which will help facilitate the process.
The Executive Director said that operational cooperation on flights was discussed, indicating that there is a possibility of exploiting synergies with other Member States or even conducting return flights from Cyprus.
He conveyed the message that FRONTEX's mandate is to support Member States facing emergency situations. He noted that the visit to Cyprus helped him to further understand the challenge facing Cyprus in relation to its size.
"It is a huge challenge that requires huge support from FRONTEX," he said, adding that the agency is the operational arm of the EU that offers operational solidarity and support to Cyprus.
He reiterated that the permanent border guard corps of the agency consists of 2000 at the present stage which will be increased in order to assist in the surveillance of the external borders of the Union.
He mentioned that Cyprus is part of the family of Europe and that the agency is present in order to support, with its range of services, member states in emergency situations.
Returns, Leggeri said, are in the spotlight as it is the most urgent need the organisation has identified for Cyprus and explained that it can also assist in other areas such as counterfeit documents at border crossing points.
The Operational Action Plan, he concluded, will be the roadmap for our teams to work together.
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Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
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