More than 1,000 Syrian citizens have withdrawn their applications for asylum or international protection in Cyprus because they intend to return to their home country, while 500 others have already returned.
Cyprus’ Deputy Minister of Migration and International Protection, Nicholas Ioannides, said on Friday, January 17, following talks with the European Union’s Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs, Magnus Brunner, that Syrians have withdrawn their asylum applications following the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
Ioannides added, as reported by the American news agency “Associated Press,” that strict policies have borne fruit, as around 10,000 migrants left Cyprus during 2024, either through “voluntary return,” deportation, or resettlement in other European countries.
He noted that the number of new asylum applications in 2024 has decreased to 6,769, a 41% decline from 2023 and about one-third of the applications submitted in 2022.
He considered that the decrease in new asylum applications has enabled the authorities to process pending applications more quickly and provide necessary support to those eligible for international protection.
The minister stated that the number of boat arrivals in recent months, especially from Lebanon, has decreased to zero, thanks to increased patrols and cooperation with neighboring governments and European and international authorities.
Cyprus has faced repeated criticism for violating migrants’ rights, according to reports from human rights organizations.
In October 2024, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Cyprus violated the right of Syrian citizens to seek asylum after they were detained along with more than 20 others onboard a boat at sea for two days before being returned to Lebanon.
In April 2024, Cyprus and the Czech Republic announced their intention to send a mission to Syria to collect data, aiming to identify safe areas in the country.
Since mid-2023, Cyprus has been calling for a reassessment of certain Syrian cities as safe areas, allowing it to repatriate refugees arriving in its territory from these cities.
Amnesty International previously urged the Cypriot authorities to protect refugees and migrants from racist attacks and to take immediate action to address them.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has also stated that conditions in Syria prevent it from promoting or facilitating the return of refugees.