Cyprus Interior Minister Nikos Nouris presented Thursday the new Integrated Immigration and Asylum Policy, a raft of measures including tightening the framework for sham marriages and third-country students’ entry as well as tackling system weaknesses with new laws.
At the same time, he stressed the need to strengthen European asylum and immigration policy, to help member- states that face the greatest immigration pressures such as Cyprus.
The Minister noted that between 2014 and the first quarter of 2020, new arrivals increased dramatically and reached 34,000 compared to 14,440 in the previous five years, making Cyprus the EU member states with the most asylum seekers in relation to its population. Today, he said, asylum seekers in Cyprus make up 3.8% of the country`s population. At the same time, he said, in the other front-line countries, such as Greece, Malta, Italy and Spain, asylum seekers` rates are below 1%.
As he said, asylum seekers mainly enter the Republic, as foreign students, by making sham marriages, by arriving from Turkish – occupied areas that the Republic can’t control or by sea.
He added that there’re many who deceive the system and staying in Cyprus without having the slightest risk if they return to their homeland.
The Minister said that according to the new Immigration Policy adopted by the Cabinet, there will be a stricter framework for the enrollment of students in higher education institutions. As he said in the years 2017 – 2019, a total of 3,214 foreign students applied for asylum and 2,239 were married to European citizens in marriages that were considered as sham.
As from September, in order to enroll in a college in Cyprus, third-country students will have to submit a bank certificate proving their ability to pay the tuition fees for the first year, a statement that the student does not travel to Cyprus because his life is in danger and a certification of good knowledge of English. Also, the right of these students to work will be limited in the framework of the internship within the study program or in a related field, while the number of registrations in the same academic year, in total will not exceed the maximum number of positions allowed by the Ministry of Education.
Regarding sham marriages, the Ministry of Interior has forwarded to the Parliament three amending Bills that are already under discussion.
During 2017 – 2019, almost 4,000 sham weddings were performed, mainly by specific City Halls.
The provisions of the three bills, he said, while fully protecting the institution of wedding tourism, provide that from now on, in order to perform a civil marriage, it is required, among other things, to obtain a certificate of freedom from the registrar of the Ministry of Interior, while correspondingly conditions are also introduced in the Law on Cohabitation. Municipalities will also be deprived of the possibility of performing civil marriages if they are found to be sham.
The Minister also said that more than 75% of all asylum seekers have crossed the ceasefire line in Cyprus, adding that four more amending bills were submitted to Parliament to address the system`s weaknesses.
He added that Cyprus demands the implementation of all security and control mechanisms applied at the points of entry into a European territory controlled by the Republic of Cyprus. He stressed that the illegal crossings and the violators should have consequences, something that is not happening today, as he said.
He also noted that despite the fact that the EU has recognized, the large influx of migrants from the occupied territories, the Republic of Cyprus was criticized at the same time for the long examination period of asylum applications and obviously unfounded applications, as well as for the small number of returns to safe third countries.
The Minister said that Cyprus proceeded with the establishment of a list of 21 safe countries, from which asylum applications will be considered unfounded, unless the applicant proves a danger for his/her life if he/she returns to his/her country of origin.
The Minister also said that in 2019 the total number of asylum seekers in the Republic with pending application reached 19,200, 2,500 are awaiting trial in the Administrative Court and 11,600 persons have been granted international protection.
Need for EU support
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Nouris said Cyprus had no other choice but to seek improvement in the new European asylum and immigration policy, which will be discussed in the coming weeks.
Cyprus, he said, is seeking to include an obligation of Member States to automatically relocate applicants on a fixed and pre-determined basis but also to restrict access to European funds to those countries that refuse to participate.
He also called on the EU to negotiate centrally with third countries the possibility of returns, but also to demand that Turkey comply with the 2016 EU-Turkey declaration to stop refugees from going to Europe, for which billions are being paid.
However, Nouris said the Republic of Cyprus wants to hold its fate in its hands if there is no EU agreement and for that purpose the country is prepared to make bilateral agreements with a number of third countries on the issue of returns. However, he expressed optimism that an agreement would be reached at EU level.
