92% of refugees enter Cyprus through the Green Line

The police failed to recruit 300 officers to patrol and protect the Green Line. The number of applications was less than half of the target number of 147. The deadline for applications is November 23. This was announced by Police Chief Stelios Papafeodorou, while speaking at a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee for Financial and Budgetary Affairs.

Cutting off the flow of migrants won’t work anyway

Papafeodorou did not rule out that the police headquarters would extend the deadline for applications in order to attract more applicants. As a reminder, in May, the Ministries of Interior and Justice asked for additional recruitment of 300 police officers for up to 28 months. This is needed to patrol the Green Line around the clock, screen and escort refugees to the camp, and secure the reception centers. Apparently, the newly hired police officers will not have the authority to prevent people from crossing the Green Line – Cyprus has certain obligations that guarantee the right to asylum. 92% of refugees enter government-controlled territory through the demilitarized zone.

For staffing, about 9 million euros.

The cost of additional personnel will be: 7.8 million euros for annual salaries. 1.1 million euros for equipment. 1.2 million euros for transportation. Some deputies have expressed concern that the accelerated hiring procedures could lead to a lack of oversight, and unqualified employees would take the new positions.

Discussions on repatriation procedures for Bangladeshi nationals

On Nov. 19, Cyprus reached an agreement with Bangladesh that should speed up procedures for returning that country’s citizens to their home country. The agreement was signed during a meeting between the two countries’ interior ministers, Nikos Nouris and Asaduzzaman Khan, in New Delhi, at the 3rd International Ministerial Conference on Combating the Financing of Terrorism. During the meeting, the two ministers discussed ways for the two countries to work together on migration. In particular, much attention was paid to the negotiations on the procedure of repatriation of Bangladeshi nationals illegally residing in the Republic of Cyprus.

Cyprus will have a special representative for migration issues?

Nikos Nouris discussed the same issue with Nityanand Rai, India’s Deputy Home Minister in charge of migration issues. The representative of the Republic of Cyprus stressed the need to work out an agreement on the deportation of persons illegally residing in the territory of each of the countries involved in the treaty.

In particular, a proposal was made to establish an attaché position for direct and maximum cooperation with the Cypriot police in combating such phenomena as counterfeit documents, human trafficking and exploitation, drug trafficking.

India, for its part, reaffirmed its strong will to cooperate in the designated areas and its readiness to participate in the negotiations.