{"id":9092,"date":"2024-04-21T20:00:28","date_gmt":"2024-04-21T17:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=9092"},"modified":"2024-04-21T20:00:28","modified_gmt":"2024-04-21T17:00:28","slug":"christodoulides-we-cannot-accept-any-more-syrian-refugees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=9092","title":{"rendered":"Christodoulides: We cannot accept any more Syrian refugees"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Nikos Christodoulides said on Sunday that Cyprus \u201ccannot accept any more Syrian refugees\u201d<\/strong>.
\nIn an interview with the Editor Network Germany (RND), he said \u201cwe are not in a position to take any more Syrian refugees. We are at our limit and can no longer cope with this flow of refugees.\u201d
\nHe added that a total of seven per cent of the population of the Republic of Cyprus are now refugees and expressed his will to begin being able to deport refugees directly back to Syria.
\nThis would be done through the government\u2019s plan to convince the European Union that parts of Syria are now safe<\/strong> enough to return migrants, and Christodoulides\u2019 line on this matter has hardened in recent weeks.
\nWhat was once a request and a suggestion is now a demand, as he said; \u201cwe expressly demand that certain areas in Syria be classified as safe regions.\u201d
\nThe government\u2019s hardened rhetoric on the matter has in recent days been backed by firmer action<\/strong> to attempt to force down the number of asylum seekers arriving on the island.
\nChristodoulides announced in a social media post on April 13 that the government had suspended its processing of asylum claims for applicants of Syrian origin.
\nThis announcement was rationalised two days later to mean that the government would act in this regard to the extent that European Union law will allow, and wait the maximum allowed period of time \u2013 21 months<\/strong> \u2013 between the submission of an asylum application and it being examined.
\nOn April 16, the government announced that it would revoke the protection status of 30 Syrian nationals who had travelled to their home country via the north.
\nMeanwhile, the government deployed two police boats to patrol off the coast of Lebanon to deter those who may wish to attempt to cross the Levantine sea to claim asylum in Cyprus.
\nThe Cyprus News Agency (CNA) claimed on Friday that \u201caround ten\u201d EU member states now support the government\u2019s plan to declare parts of Syria as safe, with Nicosia planning to host a conference in May on the matter<\/strong> aimed at pressuring the European Commission into a decision.<\/p>\n

\"alasia\"
The Alasai boat, which has been patrolling off the Lebanese coast<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The claims come off the back of active diplomatic efforts on the part of the government, which entailed sending Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou on a tour of Europe to discuss the matter with his counterparts from three other EU member states.
\nIoannou first travelled to Copenhagen, where he met his Danish counterpart Kaare Dybvad Bek. Bek said \u201cthe time has come to examine the real facts in Syria<\/strong> to allow states to carry out returns under specific and strict conditions.\u201d
\nHe added that he recognises the \u201cenormous pressure on Cyprus due to the massive flows of migrants of Syrian origin.\u201d
\nThe following day, Ioannou met with Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan, where an agreement was reached to launch a joint factfinding mission operated by Cyprus and the Czech Republic to Syria<\/strong>, with the aim of designating parts of the country as safe.
\nHe then travelled to Athens to meet Greek Migration Minister Dimitris Kairidis, and said he \u201cwelcomed\u201d Greece into the group of EU member states focusing on the matter of declaring Syria safe.
\nCyprus can also rely on the support of Austria in its endeavour, with the Austrian government having told the Cyprus Mail of its support for the plan in March.
\nA spokesperson for the Austrian interior ministry said Minister Gerhard Karner had told the European Union\u2019s justice and affairs council that \u201cdeportations to safe areas in Syria should be possible again<\/strong> in the medium term.\u201d
\nHowever, support across the bloc is not unanimous. A spokesperson for Sweden\u2019s EU Affairs minister denied the claim that they had also supported Cyprus\u2019 plan to declare parts of Syria safe to the Cyprus Mail, describing it as a \u201cmisunderstanding\u201d<\/strong>.
\n\u201cWe have heard similar proposals raised but it is not something that Sweden has taken a position on,\u201d the spokesperson added.<\/p>\n

\"Ioannou,
Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou discussing Syria with Greek Migration Minister Dimitris Kairidis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Cypriot government\u2019s claim that parts of Syria are safe is based on indications made regarding the provinces of Damascus and Tartus <\/strong>by the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA).
\nTartus is a port city located around 160 kilometres east of Cape Greco. The EUAA said \u201cthere is, in general, no risk\u201d of \u201cbelieving that the person would face a real risk of suffering serious harm\u201d should they be returned there.
\nOn Damascus, Syria\u2019s capital, the EUAA concluded that \u201cin general there is no real risk\u201d of harm, but \u201cindividual elements always need to be taken into account as they could put [someone] in risk-enhancing situations.\u201d
\nHowever, while Tartus as a port city is accessible by sea, Damascus is landlocked and surrounded by places which are decidedly unsafe<\/strong>.
\nLand routes between the port of Tartus and Damascus all pass through Homs, where, according to the EUAA, \u201cindiscriminate violence is taking place.\u201d Routes into Damascus from Jordan in the south all pass through the Dar\u2019a governorate, where, the EUAA says, individuals would \u201csolely on account of their presence on its territory face a real risk\u201d of violence.
\nIn addition, even Damascus itself is not entirely safe from conflict. The Iranian embassy in the city was bombed earlier this month<\/strong>, prompting the current back and forth between Iran and Israel.
\nThe Syrian government had claimed in March that Israel was launching missiles at several targets outside Damascus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cyprus cannot accept any more Syrian refugees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9093,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[3038,6557,1794,6325,2726,3323,1219,117,4423,1031,1469,5732,2542,6432,2950,3,4893,2172,379,7068,201,1841,2404,576,250,3330,415,718,747,3032,5525,146,299,3669,582,2121,5679,412,2952,3443,1259,821,2470,3331,406,193,184,864,1220,4843,503,3775,4448,6758,531,3225,2871,4054,6382,7361,3260,817,1358,2907,615,2471,6524,4694,5171,134,6305],"class_list":["post-9092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyprus","tag-agreement","tag-application","tag-asylum","tag-asylum-claims","tag-asylum-seekers","tag-athens","tag-boat","tag-boats","tag-cape-greco","tag-christodoulides","tag-coast","tag-conditions","tag-conference","tag-conflict","tag-cypriot-government","tag-cyprus","tag-demand","tag-embassy","tag-eu","tag-eu-member-states","tag-europe","tag-european-commission","tag-european-union","tag-germany","tag-google","tag-google-news","tag-government","tag-greco","tag-greece","tag-interior-ministry","tag-interview","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-jordan","tag-justice","tag-land","tag-law","tag-lebanon","tag-media","tag-member-states","tag-migrants","tag-migration","tag-missiles","tag-news","tag-nicosia","tag-nikos-christodoulides","tag-police","tag-population","tag-port","tag-president","tag-president-nikos-christodoulides","tag-pressure","tag-protection","tag-protection-status","tag-refugees","tag-republic-of-cyprus","tag-request","tag-risk","tag-safe-areas","tag-safe-regions","tag-sea","tag-social-media","tag-support","tag-suspended","tag-sweden","tag-syria","tag-syrian-nationals","tag-syrian-refugees","tag-unsafe","tag-violence","tag-who"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\nChristodoulides: We cannot accept any more Syrian refugees<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Refugee deportation. 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