Press Releases

The Minister of the Interior, Mr Nicos Nouris, made today, at the Ministry of Interior, the following statement to the journalists, on the migration issue:

“Citizens have become aware of the problem we face on the migration issue, especially after the visit of the President of the Republic last Monday to the First Reception Centre “Pournara”.

Our efforts to decongest the First Reception Centre by transferring 600 adult residents from the “Pournara” to “Limnes” Hospitality Centre have also become known, as well as 150 unaccompanied minors, for whom the Social Welfare Services have obtained today the approval by the Council of Ministers in order to be transferred to hotel accommodation in Ammochostos.

At a time when, at today’s meeting, the Council of Ministers approved additional appropriations for the management of the current situation, in the last 24 hours we have received 317 irregular migrants, all coming from the occupied areas, through Turkey, while I note that 292 out of 317 are single men up to 40 years of age.

From the examination of the migrants’ travel documents, as well as the testimonies by the migrants themselves, their instrumentalisation by Turkey is clearly demonstrated, since all of them arrived from African countries to the occupied areas, through Constantinople, with final destination the airport of the occupied “Tymvou”, even holding a 60-day residence permit from the pseudo-state.

This is confirmed by the information we will present and which will be forwarded in a letter of mine addressed to the European Commission – to Vice-President Margaritis Schinas, and to the competent Commissioner Ilva Johanson.

It is for this reason that the Ministry of Interior has set as its highest priority both the effective management of the green line and the speeding up of returns for those illegally residing in the Republic of Cyprus.

The information we have, and which is certainly a lot,-due to personal data protection we will avoid disclosing names- indicate, by the stamps in these specific passports, that, while there is departure from a certain African country – in this case Nigeria – the next day there is arrival at the airport of the pseudo-state in Tymvou, and at the same time, the issuance of a 60-day residence permit.

A lot of information has been collected. Everything, without exception, will be forwarded to the EU, along of course with any other evidence we consider useful in order to prove what we have been repeating and saying for so long, that there is precisely a very clear instrumentalisation by Turkey.

Asked about the 317 who have arrived in the last 24 hours, whether additional measures will be taken at the points of entry, in order to avoid a possible mass influx in the coming days, the Minister replied that “on the issues of surveillance of the Green Line we are extremely sparing in our statements” explaining that “there are national security issues”. “We are aware,” he said, and the security bodies are informed. “What we are facing is something unprecedented and this is what we want to present today,” the Minister concluded.

(NG/MV/MPO)