For Zahar Talin’s family from Syria, Cyprus means hope. On a boat from Lebanon with her husband and young daughter, they were lost at sea for three days before rescued by an American vessel and picked up by Cypriot marine police.
“We did not care where we would go, as long as it was land”, she said.
Zahar told her story during an open discussion entitled “Reception and Integration of Refugees” organised by the European Parliament Office in Cyprus, the Representation of the European Commission and the UNHCR Office.
Minister of Interior Constantinos Petrides said, “migration is the most classic example of European policy failing” as the issue of solidarity among Member States did not exist.
He said asylum seekers in Cyprus will exceed 3.5% of the population.
"Plus, those who have already been offered protection, whether they are refugees or require additional protection. Together, the percentage in Cyprus is the largest in the EU.”
He criticised the anachronistic legislation governing the European legal framework that allows economic migrants to abuse the system.
Petrides added that in August he sent a letter to the European Commission regarding the redistribution of 5,000 migrants to help Cyprus manage the influx, however, there has been no response. "So how can we talk about solidarity?"
He spoke of a new phenomenon that has emerged in the last three years, with "mass arrivals from African countries". The route, he explained, is by air, first from Ankara, they receive a three-day transit visa to the Turkish occupied areas and end up in the government-controlled areas of the Republic seeking asylum.
“Not many of them are refugees. It is economic immigrants who abuse or exploit the situation.”
There are also those who come to Cyprus legally, work here and before their permits expire, apply for asylum.
Cyprus is the first country to host the European Asylum Support Office, by the end of the year there will be 80 officers assigned to assess applications and reduce the backlog.
Petrides said “if we continue with the same rate, in five years the number of asylum seekers will rise to 100,000”.
Acting head of the Representation of the EU Commission in Cyprus, Thea Pieridou, said latest data from the EASO, between January and August, shows that 456,000 asylum applications were submitted in EU member states. That number is up by 10% compared to the whole of 2018.
Since 2014, EU funding for Cyprus has reached almost €100 mln. Around €40 mln has been allocated to Cyprus by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), almost €52 mln by the Internal Security Fund and just over €4 mln for emergency assistance.
UNHCR’s Katja Saha, said that one of the primary goals of the agency in Cyprus is to help find a durable solution for refugees through their integration into the economic, social and cultural fabric of Cypriot society.
Saha said there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to integration”, noting broad goals that apply across countries include enabling refugees reach their full potential, protect their human rights, reduce their marginalisation and to foster cohesion and harmonious co-existence.
“Access to education, employment, housing and to family reunification are the key ingredients of integration in any society.”
“I strongly believe that the Republic of Cyprus has the opportunity to get the integration of refugees, right,” Saha added.
This statement is backed by Zaha. She said that once in Cyprus, they were taken to the reception centre fin Kofinou. The family stayed there for a year and learned English.
Now she is working in a programme of the Ministry of Education for Arab speaking children.
"When we firtsw came people thought we were here to make money. We are here only for our child, we are here for hope and to stay alive,” Zaha said. (source CNA)
