Cyprus-Forum.com

[zan]

France says Cyprus needs EU help on immigration
By Jean Christou
FRANCE said yesterday that Cyprus’ illegal immigration woes should be passed to FRONTEX, the EU agency which monitors the bloc’s borders.

Brice Hortefeux, the French Minister for Immigration, said in Nicosia that the extent of illegal immigration pouring through the island’s 180-km buffer zone was a serious reality.

“It is certainly an important Cypriot reality,” said Hortefeux. “Monitoring should be passed through the FRONTEX Organisation, and increased,” he added after a meeting with Interior Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis.

Earlier this month, an EU official on the island made it clear that Cyprus was on its own in combating illegal immigration across the Green Line and could not receive official assistance from Brussels.

The Head of Unit Turkish Cypriot Taskforce at the DG Enlargement of the European Commission Andrew Rasbash said the Green Line was not considered an external border of the EU.

Therefore he said the operational and financial means of the EU such as the FRONTEX Agency or the External Border Fund could not be deployed on the Green Line.

Cyprus has been plagued by illegal immigration from the north since the crossing points opened in April 2003, but because the EU acquis is suspended for the Turkish Cypriot breakaway state, they are not under the same pressure to clamp down on illegal immigrants.

Most of the immigrants find their way south easily and see Cyprus as a gateway to Europe. Europe says Cyprus is not doing enough to combat the phenomenon. Cyprus says it cannot handle the situation alone.

Cyprus received 18 asylum requests every day in 2007 and is number one out of 51 countries in terms of applications per capita, according to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

Hortefeux said that when France takes over the six-month EU rotating presidency on July 1, Paris would push for a European Pact to be established, in co-operation with the other member states, dealing with immigration issues.

Strengthening FRONTEX would be part of this move, he said.

He said the EU faced numerous challenges in relation to immigration as well as asylum seekers.

Sylikiotis expressed Cyprus’ readiness to support the French presidency in its effort to establish a comprehensive immigration policy within the EU.

He said he had also discussed with the French Minister the possibility of co-operation among Mediterranean Member States which were facing similar problems. He suggested meeting in Cyprus with the Mediterranean EU Member States during the French Presidency to discuss how to handle the problem.

Sylikiotis said the problem was not only one of economics but also of demographics, and reiterated that Cyprus needed more support from the EU to deal with it.

At the end of 2007, there were 11,802 asylum seekers in Cyprus whose applications were pending examination.

Nearly 7,000 asylum requests were received last year in Cyprus. The government says that 97 per cent come across the north.


Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2008

[Oracle]

Well done Bloody Turks ... you have brought enough illegal immigrants across the "border" to get the attention of France ....

Now you are for it .....

[zan]

We haven't brought any body over....Look to your border patrols....They don't seem to be doing their jobs......

[Viewpoint]

There is a border you have to stop them not us.

[iceman]

i am sorry to say,you two sound pathetic with your above comments....i do not agree with either of you on this issue.

[zan]

i am sorry to say,you two sound pathetic with your above comments....i do not agree with either of you on this issue.

You don't have to iceman...These are my opinions and you have a right to say what you think. The war of words and actions is not over yet so the border is their problem until it is. They cannot have it all their own way....You seem to forget the trick they played in getting the Un to recognise them as the only government in Cyprus in which you have had to suffer all these years. This is the same thing...They want the EU to recognise that there is no border and then you can spend the next 40 years trying to convince them there is..........That goes for any other decision you might want to go your way. One will follow the other...We have lost every UN decision since that fateful day...Can you not see the similarity...Another trick gardas.

[Oracle]

i am sorry to say,you two sound pathetic with your above comments....i do not agree with either of you on this issue.

My darling iceman is back ....

[Get Real!]

I don't know what to make of Zan's thread... but then again I don't know what to make of most of Zan's threads!

[zan]

I don't know what to make of Zan's thread... but then again I don't know what to make of most of Zan's threads!

If you ask nicely I might explain it to you as you have left your brain in the bucket you call home......

[iceman]

i am sorry to say,you two sound pathetic with your above comments....i do not agree with either of you on this issue.

You don't have to iceman...These are my opinions and you have a right to say what you think. The war of words and actions is not over yet so the border is their problem until it is. They cannot have it all their own way....You seem to forget the trick they played in getting the Un to recognise them as the only government in Cyprus in which you have had to suffer all these years. This is the same thing...They want the EU to recognise that there is no border and then you can spend the next 40 years trying to convince them there is..........That goes for any other decision you might want to go your way. One will follow the other...We have lost every UN decision since that fateful day...Can you not see the similarity...Another trick gardas.

why don't we just simply admit we are not in a position to control/decide who comes through our ports gardas...