Cyprus is prepared for the worst-case scenario and is ready to evacuate up to 200,000 foreign nationals from Syria, Interior Minister Eleni Mavrou said on Monday.

Mavrou was speaking at a press conference in Nicosia following the Justice and Home Affairs Informal meeting (JHA) during which the EU ministers discussed the situation in Syria, asylum and migration as well as is issues related to cybercrime.

Mavrou said that Cyprus is in close cooperation and coordination with other EU members as well as European and international organizations and the situation is being monitored.

She also said that according to the latest figures, a total of 115,000 people have fled Syria, the majority of which-around 40,000-are in refugee camps in Turkey.

Mavrou also said that half of the 115,000 Syrians, are children.

The Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmstrom said that the EU has experience of the evacuation from Lebanon and more recently with Libya, noting that “we can do it again, we are monitoring the situation hour by hour”.

During the JHA Informal Meeting, the EU Ministers had the opportunity to be briefed on the situation by representatives of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization on Migration (IOM) and the European Asylum Support Office (EASO).

Ministers supported the idea of a Regional Protection Program with the aim to support those countries that are mostly affected by the refugees’ flows.

On migration and asylum, the EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministers exchanged views on what they believe to be the future priorities in light of the findings of the Commission’s Third Annual Report on Immigration and Asylum (2011). Given the current economic crisis, Ministers also looked at ways in which the EU can better utilise the positive contributions of migration and mobility to contribute to the Union’s growth agenda and to ensure an effective integration policy.

Regarding the strategy for tackling cybercrime, the EU Ministers exchanged views on national strategies against cybercrime and ways in which the EU can contribute to an effective response.

The Ministers also looked at ways of overcoming procedural barriers in undercover investigations and interrogation, the enhancement of cooperation with counterparts outside the EU and the provision of more technological tools and staff to law enforcement authorities.
Cyprus, an EU member since 2004, has assumed for the first time the Presidency of the Council of the EU on July 1st for a period of six months.