Migration reforms and monitoring mechanism announced
The creation of an independent national monitoring mechanism for fundamental rights, along with further reforms in asylum, refugee matters and migration policy, was announced by the deputy migration ministry on Friday.
Deputy Migration Minister Nicholas Ioannides, speaking at a bar association conference on migration on Thursday, said the new regulations were being implemented in the context of the European Pact on Asylum and Migration, which is set to enter into force in June, as well as in view of a new refugee law currently before the House.
In his remarks, Ioannides underlined the need for Cyprus to adapt to the upcoming changes in a timely manner, both institutionally and operationally.
According to the minister, the new pact aims to introduce stricter border controls and speed up procedures, while ensuring that human rights are upheld.
He added that efforts are focused on streamlining, simplifying and digitising legal migration procedures to better serve citizens and the domestic economy.
Ioannides said relevant efforts were already underway, while the government had also introduced preventive measures against what he described as uncontrolled and illegal migration, stressing that it would “not tolerate the repetition of situations of lawlessness observed in the past.”
President of the administrative court of international protection Margarita Papantoniou, speaking at the same conference, outlined judicial challenges currently faced by the Republic in migration matters.
She referred to issues concerning case law and emphasised the importance of effectively protecting the rights of asylum seekers.
Last week, the deputy migration ministry, together with the justice ministry, announced measures to improve deportations of migrants residing illegally in Cyprus.
The two ministries said a working group would be set up to examine cases of irregular migrants who refuse to leave the country voluntarily.
Reaffirming the government’s commitment to maintaining a decline in arrivals and an increase in deportations of undocumented migrants, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said close coordination between authorities was essential to sustaining this trend.
The justice ministry said a meeting had already been held to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation among authorities involved in return procedures, including the two ministries, the Cyprus police and other relevant services.
Meanwhile, the deputy migration ministry noted that the involvement of multiple authorities at different stages of the deportation process, as is currently the case, can create information gaps.
Figures published in the annual Asylum and Migration Overview of the European Migration Network (EMN) show that asylum applications in Cyprus fell by 42 per cent, from 11,660 in 2023 to 6,750 in 2024.
However, at 23.9 applicants per 100,000 people, Cyprus still recorded one of the highest rates in the European Union in August 2025, with 235 first-time applications, up from 190 in July and slightly below June’s 240.
Across the EU, the average stood at 11.4 applicants per 100,000 people. Greece recorded the highest rate at 65.2 applicants per 100,000, while Hungary recorded the lowest, with just five applicants.
The total number of first-time asylum applicants across the EU reached 51,465, with Afghans (5,260), Venezuelans (5,180) and Syrians (2,825) making up the largest groups.
Eurostat data released on Tuesday also showed a decline in asylum applications in Cyprus, with 130 initial applications and 95 subsequent requests recorded in December 2025.