According to official statistics, 10,589 asylum applications have been filed this year, compared to 21,565 for the entire last year

The Cypriot government has announced that the country has become the first EU member state to repatriate more migrants whose asylum applications were rejected than it received in a year. 

This was stated by Interior Minister Konstantinos Ioannou to the country's state broadcaster.

More than 11,000 migrants were repatriated this year, which is more than in 2022, making Cyprus the fourth country in the EU in terms of the number of repatriates in absolute terms. 

In about two-thirds of cases, repatriations were voluntary. The Minister of the Interior indicated that a tough approach to migration has made Cyprus less attractive to migrants who are not eligible for asylum or international protection. 

The overall inflow of migrants has halved over the past nine months, especially those crossing the border from the Turkish part of Cyprus to the internationally recognized south in search of asylum. 

According to official statistics, 10,589 asylum applications have been filed this year, compared to 21,565 for the entire last year. The minister also indicated that part of the measures is to reduce the time for processing asylum applications to a maximum of three months, which results in unsuccessful applicants losing benefits and the right to work. 

Ioannou said that the agreement reached by EU leaders on new migration control rules does not meet Cyprus' demands for the forced relocation of migrants from countries with external EU borders to other EU members under pressure to increase arrivals.