In the first 18 days of the new year, over 700 asylum seeking applications were submitted before Cyprus’ authorities, Philenews reported on Wednesday.
This indicates that Cyprus will maintain its unwanted record of having the highest number of first-time asylum applications among all 27 EU members relative to its population of roughly one million.
The Interior Minister has already announced he will study the Lithuanian model in relation to the immigration problem the country is confronted with because of Ukraine.
And that he is maintaining close contact with the French EU presidency for assistance mainly in the return of irregular migrants.
According to data provided, 19,000 asylum applications are now pending, while a record number of 16,549 applications had been processed in 2021.
At the same time, a request has been submitted to the European Commission to take action in favour of the Republic of Cyprus.
This includes granting it the right to suspend asylum applications by people entering the country illegally.
