https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/damning-state-dep-report-highlights-cyprus-human-rights-issues
A US State Department country report on human rights practices in 2020 proved damning for Cyprus which was found to have had significant human rights issues last year....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/med-5-want-eu-to-act-as-one-on-migration
The interior ministers of the five Mediterranean countries on the front line of mass migration to Europe want their European Union partners to share the burden more equitably...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/eu-frontline-ministers-talk-migration-in-athens
Cypriot Interior Minister Nicos Nouris is in Athens this weekend where he is attending a MED5 meeting on immigration, with some of the bloc’s Mediterranean members tackling issues stemming from Brussels’ new migration proposals that divide the union...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-scrambles-to-reduce-asylum-backlog
Interior Minister Nicos Nouris says the government is moving forward with rejections of asylum applications under new, faster procedures to clear a system backlog, with Europe seeking a comprehensive solution and a commissioner calling on Cypriot authorities to investigate illegal pushbacks...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/minister-points-finger-at-north-over-barbwire
Cypriot Interior Minister Nicos Nouris has fired back at critics in the north over the south’s decision to install barbwire near the UN buffer zone to halt illegal crossings, blaming the need for a fence on lack of action on the part of Turkish Cypriot authorities...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/critics-slam-trump-like-fence-installed-in-nicosia-suburb
The government came under fire on Tuesday over a decision to lay razor wire along a section of the Astromeritis buffer zone in the Nicosia district....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/brussels-concerned-over-pournara-refugees
The Republic of Cyprus’ handling of asylum seekers at Pournara camp remains on Brussels’ radar, with a host of different challenges raising questions over how the European Union and some member states can get on the same page without resorting to legal battles...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/pournara-residents-fired-up-about-leaving
More protests took place at Pournara on Wednesday, after asylum seekers with grievances reportedly set a tent on fire while some camp residents managed to leave camp...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/jordan-supports-cyprus-solution-based-on-un-resolutions-ambassador-says
Jordan’s Ambassador to Cyprus Mohamed El-Fayez affirmed on Tuesday his country’s support for a resolution of the Cyprus Problem on the basis of relevant UN resolutions....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/asylum-seekers-at-pournara-breach-gate
A group of asylum seekers at Nicosia’s Pournara camp got a brief taste of freedom on Wednesday, after residents breached the front gate during a protest against long-term detention at the migration facility...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/pournara-residents-protest-harsh-camp-conditions
Asylum seekers living in the Pournara camp located at the outskirts of Nicosia staged a peaceful protest on Monday against the delays in the processing of their applications, as well as against the severe overcrowding and harsh conditions of life in the camp....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/decree-bans-additional-asylum-seekers-from-living-in-chloraka
It emerged on Friday that Interior Minister Nicos Nouris issued a decree last month banning additional asylum seekers from establishing permanent residency in the Paphos district village of Chloraka....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/officials-weigh-in-on-pournara-brawl
Eight tenants at Pournara migration facility were placed under arrest on Tuesday, following a violent brawl on camp grounds that erupted between two groups under circumstances still unclear...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/violent-brawl-breaks-out-at-pournara
A large-scale violent confrontation between groups of asylum seekers erupted at Pournara camp on Monday night, with police calling for backup and two dozen ending up in the Emergency Room...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/two-arrested-after-syrian-refugees-reach-shore
Two men have been arrested on suspicion of people smuggling after over a dozen presumptive refugees from Syria reached Cypriot shores late Tuesday night, while there was still concern over overcrowding concerns at a migrant camp outside the capital...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/syrian-refugees-held-at-police-station
Newly-arrived presumptive refugees were on standby this week, after reports said they were taken to a police station in Famagusta district due to overcrowding conditions at a migrant reception centre in rural Nicosia...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-migrant-camp-way-over-capacity
The overcrowding situation with refugees and asylum seekers at Pournara camp was back in the news, following an unannounced visit by the state’s Ombudswoman who said she saw some improvements but also some problems still not being addressed such as the right to move freely out of the camp...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/interior-ministry-rents-apartment-building-to-house-asylum-seekers
The interior ministry said Wednesday that it will be renting an apartment building to house asylum seekers who have been left stranded in the streets in recent weeks as a result of the Pournara migrant camp reaching full capacity, with the apartments to be ready by Thursday....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/systems-tested-by-slaughterhouse-outbreak
A company that owns a slaughterhouse in rural Nicosia has until Monday to explain how 79 people were found working without proper authorization, following a coronavirus outbreak on the premises and days after the firm hinted that government officials were supplying asylum seekers for manual labour through backchannels...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/roadblocks-as-cyprus-cuts-off-districts
Police say officers will man random checkpoints in Limassol and Paphos districts, both which have been ordered essentially isolated from the rest of the island, following new strict measures to combat a second wave of the coronavirus...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/divided-europe-seeks-to-overhaul-defunct-migration-policies
The European Union's executive proposed on Wednesday overhauling the bloc's broken migration and asylum rules, seeking to end years of feuds and bitterness over the many people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East and Africa....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/coronavirus-measures-bring-sharp-drop-in-eu-asylum-applications
First-time asylum applicants in the EU recorded a sharp drop of almost 70% during the second quarter of 2020, mainly as a result of coronavirus emergency measures imposed by member states from March, Eurostat figures showed Wednesday....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/nearly-100-asylum-seekers-flown-out-of-cyprus
Fourteen unaccompanied minors have been transferred from the Republic of Cyprus to Finland, while another 84 foreign nationals were flown back to their countries in what the government described as ‘voluntary returns'...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/eu-solidarity-to-go-beyond-words-michel-tells-anastasiades
In a meeting with the European Council President Charles Michel on Wednesday, the President of the Republic of Cyprus expressed hope that EU member states will show a united front during next week’s extraordinary European Council summit on Turkey....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/thousands-protest-after-greek-refugee-camp-burns-down
Thousands of protesting refugees and migrants left homeless on the Greek island of Lesbos after fires destroyed the notoriously overcrowded Moria camp gathered on a road leading to the island's main town Friday, demanding to be allowed to leave....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/new-driver-permit-rules-stiffer-for-non-residents
The Cypriot transport ministry has issued tougher rules for some foreigners seeking to obtain a driver’s permit, essentially linking visa status to eligibility while barring refugees with pending applications as well as introducing stricter criteria...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/echr-asks-cyprus-to-explain-boat-incidents
The European Court of Human Rights has asked the government of the Republic of Cyprus to answer questions concerning recent refoulement of undocumented travelers at sea, in response to a request of an interim measure from a local attorney handling another case...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/eu-calls-on-cyprus-to-manage-migration-flows-in-line-with-eu-law
The EU said Tuesday that it acknowledges the difficulties faced by the Republic of Cyprus in terms of the flow of refugees it is called to deal with, but stressed that basic principles and EU legislation must be respected....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-defends-blocking-migrant-boats
A police task force from the Republic of Cyprus is hoping to hash out a plan with Lebanese authorities to deter “economic migrants” from traveling to the island, as government and state officials rush to respond to criticism over a decision to send back undocumented migrants to the neighbouring country...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/urgent-meeting-after-weekend-refugee-arrivals
Cypriot Interior Minister Nicos Nouris has called for an emergency meeting following a number of arrivals of undocumented migrants over the weekend, with some of them transported back to Lebanon and others facing the prospect of crowding into an already maxed-out facility...
