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/cyprus-rejects-eu-draft-on-turkey-which-seeks-to-deepen-trade-ties
Cyprus has rejected a draft prepared for a summit of EU leaders this week which seeks to deepen trade ties with Turkey, describing it as “totally unacceptable.” ...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/fence-wars-break-out-near-buffer-zone
Opposing camps have been making headlines recently over a controversial barbwire fence near the buffer zone, with one group cutting a piece of barbed wire and the other restoring it, with all caught on tape...
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/cyprus-begins-sealing-porous-frontier
The Republic of Cyprus says a barbwire fence currently being set up along a strip adjacent to the UN buffer zone should not be seen as a border between north and south but a way to hold back undocumented migrants...
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/comment/opinion/from-bismarck-to-merkel
'Turks and Germans loved each other for a long time,' Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a visit to Berlin in 2018. He was citing the historic words of Germany’s first chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, which still seem to determine Berlin’s policy on Ankara. We should recognize this reality as we enter a new geopolitical era, without succumbing to sentimentalism and spasmodic reactions....
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/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/coast-guard-tows-refugee-boat-to-safety
A boat with Syrian refugees arrived in Cyprus around midnight, with coast guard officials allowing women and children to spend the night at the marina while COVID-19 tests have been ordered on all 55 persons...
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/eu-leaders-weigh-sanctions-over-turkey-s-med-drilling-work
Concerned that their credibility is at stake, European Union leaders are set Thursday to give the green light to the expansion of sanctions against Turkey over its exploration of gas reserves in Mediterranean waters claimed by EU members Greece and Cyprus....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/eu-greece-sign-agreement-for-new-migrant-center-on-lesvos
The European Commission on Thursday signed a memorandum outlining a detailed plan agreed by Greek authorities and EU agencies to establish a new, up-to-standard reception center on the island of Lesvos by early September 2021. This is a key step in resolving the situation following the fires that destroyed the Moria camp in September. It is the result of the work of European Taskforce that was created at that time....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/council-of-europe-report-critical-of-greece-s-migrant-pushbacks-detention-conditions
A Council of Europe report, released Thursday, calls on Greece to stop pushbacks of migrants and calls out the country on the conditions in several migrant detention centers....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/fresh-total-lockdown-out-of-the-question-for-cyprus-govt
Finance minister Constantinos Petrides on Monday strongly refuted the possibility of Cyprus entering a second lockdown, such as the one it was plummeted into in March as a result of the outbreak of coronavirus....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/greece-finalizes-plan-to-build-wall-on-border-with-turkey
Greece's government says it has finalized plans to extend a wall along its northeast border with Turkey, over concerns that migrants may try to stage mass crossings into the European Union country....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/far-right-eu-lawmaker-in-greek-court-for-criminal-trial
A member of the European Parliament has appeared in court in Greece after being convicted last week of being a member of a criminal organization along with members of the extreme-right Golden Dawn party.
...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/greek-court-rules-golden-dawn-party-criminal-organization
A Greek court ruled on Wednesday that the far-right Golden Dawn party was operating as a criminal organization, delivering a landmark guilty verdict in a marathon five-year trial....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/another-refugee-boat-intercepted-off-cyprus
Syrian refugees on a boat that was blocked from disembarking were eventually on their way to Pournara migrant camp after reaching shore Wednesday morning, with one child hospitalized for unspecified reasons...
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/berlin-to-take-in-1-553-refugees-from-greece
As Germany indicated on Tuesday that it would take in more than 1,500 refugees from Lesvos and other Greek islands, the Greek government welcomed the move, indicating however that it should not be seen as rewarding irregular immigration. ...
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....
