Cyprus asks EU member states to help relocate 5,000 unregulated immigrants

Cyprus on Monday asked the European Union (EU) and the EU member states to help relocate 5,000 unregulated immigrants in other EU countries as a matter of urgency.

Interior Minister Constantinos Petrides, in a letter to EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos, and to his counterparts of the other EU member states, cited "disproportionate pressures and severe challenges" faced by the eastern Mediterranean island, one of the frontline countries in the paths followed by migrants to Europe.

Petrides asked other EU member states to submit pledges for the relocation of the immigrants on the basis of bilateral agreements.

While Cyprus hosts a small number of immigrants, it has the highest ratio of refugee influx in terms of its population in the government controlled part of the island.

"With a population of barely 850,000 people, Cyprus remains the top receiving member state regarding first time asylum applications in proportion to its population for the third consecutive year," Petrides pointed out in his letter.

Immigrants are crossing over in increased numbers from the Turkish-controlled part of Cyprus, having reached 7,000 in the first six months of this year, according to official figures.

Petrides said in his letter that priority should be given to vulnerable persons.

He said Cyprus is currently hosting around 9,000 persons to whom protection has been granted only in the past few years.

Petrides further said that according to the available data," between 2015 and 2019 around 8,500 persons arrived to Cyprus directly from Turkey by boat or through the occupied areas."

The backlog of asylum applications awaiting examination has increased to almost 15,000, despite additional staff having been hired by the Asylum Service.

"Unfortunately, despite our efforts to effectively manage the mass influx but also our repeated pleas for solidarity measures, Cyprus has not benefited from any relocation scheme so far," he said in his three-page letter.