People smugglers to Cyprus are changing methods towards sea routes

Smugglers facilitating irregular entries into Cyprus are adapting their operations which has in turn prompted the government to alter its approach, setting up a special task force.

Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou explained on Wednesday that smugglers have shifted their operations towards the sea route, with an increasing trend of Syrian arrivals.

In recent years over 90 per cent of irregular migrants have come from Turkey via the north.

But he emphasised that arrivals this year are down sharply compared to 2022, with 735 asylum applications in June 2023 compared to 2,401 in the corresponding month last year.

The minister stressed, however, that the government is adapting to the shifting networks, with work being carried out across all levels – ranging from political decisions and diplomacy to technical and operational action.

Notably, the ministry added a significant policy change is that asylum applicants who arrived in Cyprus after January 1, 2023, will not be included in the list of candidates for the voluntary resettlement programme.

The reasoning, it was explained, is to ensure that the resettlement programme does not become a “pull factor” for nationals from specific third countries who may abuse the programme, using Cyprus as a transit station towards other EU countries.

Ioannou said that a working group has been set up which consists of officials from the asylum service, the migration department, the labour ministry, and others.

Part of the group’s mandate is to examine the possibility of revising the policy concerning Syrian nationals, with the aim of more effectively managing those already in Cyprus and preventing further flows from the neighbouring country.

Moreover, measures are being taken to detect the people smugglers enabling the Syrian route and action is being taken to exchange information among the relevant EU services and organisations, such as Europol.

As for this year’s trends, the ministry added that despite the increase in sea arrivals the overall number of asylum applications are “significantly lower compared to last year”.

“Measures have clearly contributed to the reduction of asylum applications from immigrants originating from Sub-Saharan African countries, with networks currently shifting towards other nationalities, such as Syrians,” it added.