Cyprus and seven other EU states call for more returns of Syrian refugees

An informal settlement for Syrian refugees in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon, April 5, 2023 | Photo: Reuters/Emilie Madi

Also read: On Lebanon’s Syria Street, a deceptive calm prevails

Lebanon hosts around two million refugees from neighboring Syria already, which is also putting a strain on its coffers. 

In early May, the EU announced 1 billion euros in aid to support Lebanon’s “socio-economic stability”, while calling on the country to cooperate more in the fight against illegal immigration to Europe.

This comes as the leader of the Hezbollah terrorist group, Hassan Nasrallah, whose influence in Lebanon is growing, called on the Beirut government to “open the sea” to migrant boats.

Nasrallah says he wants to put pressure on Europe this way and stop the government in Beirut from assisting the EU.

Also read: EU-Lebanon aid package bad news for Syrian refugees?

Record number of deportations

To reduce the number of asylum seekers in Cyprus, the government has also decided to focus on deportations of failed asylum seekers. 

In the first four months of 2024, it expelled 3,337 migrants from the island nation. In the same period in 2023, Cyprus had recorded only 2,348 expulsions.

According to official statements, these deportations include forced expulsions, voluntary returns and relocations, typically of North African and sub-Saharan African nationals, as well as of Bangladeshis and Egyptians, whose countries of origin are deemed to be safe.

However, Syrian nationals — much like Afghans — can presently now be expelled from the country this way due to the political instability in their home countries.

According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), almost 27,000 asylum seekers were awaiting a response to their asylum requests from Cypriot authorities by the end of September 2023.

The previous year saw similar numbers of applications, making Cypriot the EU member state with the highest per capita rate of people seeking protection.

Also read: Germany received most asylum applications in 2023 – more than France and Spain combined

This article was mostly based on an article originally written in French

Source link : https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/57279/cyprus-and-seven-other-eu-states-call-for-more-returns-of-syrian-refugees

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Publish date : 2024-05-23 07:00:00

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