https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/green-line-border-agents-get-ready-for-action
Over two hundred Green Line border agents will report on duty later this month on the Greek Cypriot side of the UN buffer zone, but the newly-hired sergeants will only focus on irregular migrants, leaving drug trafficking and other crimes off the agenda...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/decline-in-asylum-approvals-in-cyprus-in-2022
According to data from Eurostat, the statistical service of the EU, EU countries granted protection status to 384,245 asylum seekers in 2022, up 40% from the previous year. However, in Cyprus, there was a significant decrease in protection status, with only 580 cases being granted (compared to 2,305 in 2021)....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/delivery-driver-middleman-scandal-widens
A recent traffic accident has prompted police to widen a fraud investigation that began in Limassol and now has reached the capital, following revelations that foreign food delivery drivers in Cyprus were paying middlemen to secure driver permits through the state’s austere system...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/city-employee-arrested-in-driver-permit-middleman-scandal
More suspects including a civil servant have been arrested in the document fraud scandal where foreign food delivery drivers allegedly paid hundreds of euros to a middleman in order to secure a driver’s permit...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/new-migration-scandal-looms-after-network-uncovered
A new scandal involving services for asylum seekers may have been inadvertently uncovered in Limassol, where arrest warrants have been issued amid strict rules for renewing driver permits and a black market designed to overcome restrictions...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-scraps-online-migration-appointments-after-scandal
Immigration authorities in the Republic of Cyprus scrapped an online appointment platform on Monday after allegations were made public about agents selling available slots to foreigners for profit and causing months of waiting for those who did not shell out the cash...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cypriot-law-enforcement-to-shed-schengen-s-lone-sheep-status
Justice Minister Anna Koukkides-Prokopiou has said she is pleased with the launch of the Schengen Information System (SIS) and the fact that the Republic of Cyprus will be able to have access to the system starting from the end of July. ...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-does-right-by-wronged-farm-workers
A foreign worker who says he fell out of status after being wronged in a labor dispute is getting support from Cypriot authorities, along with over a dozen suspected victims of labor exploitation after police, labor, and immigration officers coordinated a raid on a farm in Famagusta district after his complaint...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/wronged-worker-slams-cyprus-over-migration-crisis
Thousands of asylum seekers in Cyprus were sent back to their countries last year but one foreign worker, who feels he has no good options following a dispute with his employer, says many people who come to work on the island are forced to seek asylum because the system is not in their favor...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/nouris-the-cause-of-cyprus-immigration-problem-is-turkey
Interior Minister Nicos Nouris said on Monday that Turkey is the eliciting factor of the migration issue in Cyprus, speaking at a press conference where he presented the work of his Ministry during his term....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/athienou-draws-line-over-buffer-zone-barbwire
A recent renovation of a Greek Cypriot police station near the buffer zone came with promises of additional staff and better monitoring of the area, but leaders of the local community have second thoughts over a controversial barb wire...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/first-group-of-asylum-seekers-relocated-to-germany-from-cyprus
Repatriation flights from Cyprus to Germany and France began at the end of December as part of the EU's support policy for Nicosia in the refugee crisis. ...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/un-chief-sees-no-common-ground-in-divided-cyprus
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' report on the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, released on Wednesday night as an official document of the Security Council, number S/2023/3, records the lack of common ground between the two sides for peace talks leading to a mutually agreeable solution...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/leaked-un-report-on-cyprus-raises-eyebrows
A draft report by the UN Secretary General on the peacekeeping force in divided Cyprus has been leaked to Greek Cypriot media, prompting political pundits to point to bleak and candid references to a host of divisive issues including...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/germany-s-new-right-to-residence-effective-as-of-january-1st-2023
Germany’s much-discussed Right to Residence and other laws making it easier for foreigners in the country to make their stay legal, move to the country or gain permanent residency there, has become effective today, January 1, 2023....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/germany-passes-law-allowing-foreigners-to-easily-gain-residency
Germany’s Federal Parliament, Bundestag, has approved the amendments to the law on the right of residence and asylum for third-country citizens who are already in the country, with a majority of 371 votes....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/romania-retaliates-against-austria-s-schengen-veto
Romanians that were looking forward to spending winter holidays in Austria’s many tourist destinations have started calling off their bookings, following Austria’s Schengen Veto, which prevents Romania and Bulgaria to join the Schengen Area....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/unaccompanied-minors-are-on-the-rise
Managing the exponentially increasing number of unaccompanied minors or unaccompanied alien children (UAC) is a problem that must be solved by the government in collaboration with NGOs and other relevant actors....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/brussels-urging-guidelines-for-ngo-boats-in-the-midst-of-france-italy-migrant-dispute
The European Commission is pushing to create guidelines for the NGO boats rescuing migrants off Europe’s shores as part of a plan to reduce the number of asylum seekers heading to the Continent....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/life/iranian-who-inspired-‘the-terminal-dies-at-paris-airport
An Iranian man who lived for 18 years in Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport and whose saga loosely inspired the Steven Spielberg film “The Terminal” died Saturday in the airport that he long called home, officials said....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/comment/opinion/op-ed-effective-management-of-the-migration-issue
Migration flows to Europe from Africa and Asia are becoming increasingly influenced by geopolitical realities and socioeconomic developments....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/nouris-eu-should-sanction-countries-that-instrumentalize-migration
The EU should have concrete sanctions in place when there is proof that migrants are being instrumentalized, as in the case of Cyprus, Interior Minister Nicos Nouris said....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/ankara-accuses-greece-of-fatal-pushback
Ankara says Greece is responsible for the deaths of six irregular migrants, including young children, whose boat sunk this week during an alleged pushback, with Athens denying the allegations and pointing out that the incident took place in Turkish waters...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-hopeful-about-eu-migration-pact
The interior ministry in the Republic of Cyprus says an EU council draft that makes adoption of asylum and migration rules a priority includes a Green Line reference, seen by Nicosia as an important step in its attempt to block flows from the northern part seen by the south as 'instruments of Turkey'...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/norway-plans-to-deport-refugee-lawbreakers
The Norwegian government has announced that the country plans to deport foreigners who have broken the law and who hold refugee status but no longer need protections in the country....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/dad-s-hurried-deportation-stirs-debate-in-cyprus
The hasty deportation of a detained man, whose wife and teenage son remain in Cyprus, has stirred up debate this week, bringing the child commissioner head to head with the state’s law enforcement authorities and even the interior minister himself...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-upgraded-to-tier-1-in-us-trafficking-in-persons-report
The Ministry of Justice and Public Order has welcomed the US State Department's Trafficking in Persons report for 2022 released on Tuesday noting the upgrade of Cyprus to Tier 1 status. ...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/germany-grants-asylum-to-thousands-of-refugees-already-protected-by-greece
Germany has granted asylum to thousands of refugees who were previously granted refugee protection in Greece....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/lawmakers-approve-private-police-along-green-line
The parliament in the Republic of Cyprus has approved legislation allowing the hiring and training of 300 private armed police officers tasked with combating illegal migration along the UN buffer zone, but regulations were still unclear...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/turkish-cypriots-must-assume-responsibility-for-migration-flows
Vice-President of the European Commission Margaritis Schinas has said that the EU will find a way to make the Turkish Cypriot leadership assume its responsibility for limiting the migration flows in Cyprus which is faced with "an unbearably big burden"....
