Newsroom
Irregular migrant arrivals to the Republic of Cyprus have plummeted by 86% over the past three years, while returns have nearly tripled, Deputy Minister of Migration and International Protection Nikolas Ioannidis said Friday.
Speaking at a press conference at the Press and Information Office in Nicosia, Ioannidis outlined key data from 2022 to 2025, highlighting the government’s efforts to tighten migration policy, accelerate asylum procedures and promote returns with European Union support.
Between the first half of 2022 and the first half of 2025, irregular arrivals fell from 9,307 to 1,260, and new asylum applications dropped 87%, from 12,048 to 1,520. Ioannidis also reported a 26.5% decrease in pending asylum applications, now at 17,604.
Repatriations surged to 6,187 in the first half of 2025, up from 2,358 in 2022. He noted that Cyprus leads among EU nations in the number of Syrian nationals repatriated, with over 2,000 departures since June 2025.
At the Pournara First Reception Center, resident numbers dropped 86%, from 2,980 in June 2022 to 251 last month. In response to reports of contagious diseases at the facility, Ioannidis said isolation protocols and medical screenings are in place, with further upgrades underway.
Regarding the asylum landscape, the deputy minister said most applications are deemed abusive. He cited declines in applications from key African countries, including Nigeria and Somalia. In June alone, only 71 applications were submitted from Nigeria, compared to more than 2,000 in the same period in 2022.
Efforts to streamline legal migration include the launch of the EU Blue Card and resumption of the Cyprus Digital Nomad Visa. In 2025, 86,128 entry and residence permit applications were processed, with the majority of current legal residents coming from Russia and the U.K.
Ioannidis also pointed to legislative reforms aimed at aligning national law with the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, set to take effect in June 2026.
A new national integration strategy for legal residents is in its final stages and is expected to be presented to the Council of Ministers this autumn.
