CYPRUS is becoming ‘a tourist attraction for migrants’, deputies heard yesterday after the Labour Minister said €30 million was needed to assist legal migrants and asylum seekers.
The issue was under discussion yesterday at the House Institutions Committee yesterday, prior to debate over the ministry’s 2011 budget.
Speaking after the meeting, Committee Chairman, EVROKO’s Rikkos Erotokritou, said it was at the very least “provocative” to ask for such massive funds for migrants when the government was baulking when it came to finding €10 million to compensate the employees of failed state-owned Eurocypria Airlines.
“At a time when efforts are being made to save public money, the budget for 2011 when it comes to migrants is €30 million – €22 million for political asylum seekers alone – which has increased by €1 million compared to last year,” said Erotokritou.
“When Eurocypria workers need €10 million to survive, the government has no problem requesting €30 million for migrants,” he added. “This is an insult to Eurocypria.”
Erotokritou said the vast majority of MPs on his committee agreed with his views. “We told the Labour Minister [Sotiroulla Charalambous] that she should change policy. We also underlined the need for oversight of this money as is the case in all EU states.”
The management of the funds should be within the framework of a national strategy and should not be left to the discretion of the ministry or local authority officials.
“(Charalambous) told us that these funds aren’t even checked on an annual basis,” said Erotokritou. “No one checks if the migrant’s or asylum seeker’s needs have changed, where they are working and if the number of children has remained the same as when they registered.”
He said he had received information that a number of migrants traded children among themselves and took them along when seeking benefits so that they could receive more money. “They take a number of children and then the same children appear with other migrants,” he said.
Erotokritou said the island’s policies were turning Cyprus into a tourist attraction for migrants who can’t be bothered to work.
“We think the current policy is completely inadequate and it sparks publicl outrage, especially in the current economic climate,” he said. “We have views. If they insist on these funds we will reject them without hesitation.”
Minister Charalambous said her ministry was implementing a recent Cabinet decision to promote a national strategy for the integration of legal migrants.
Part of this decision was to designate ‘welcome’ areas for asylum seekers whose applications were under evaluation. These areas would provide housing, clothing and food and Charalambous said they were part of Cyprus’ commitments to the EU.
“The aim is to integrate legal migrants in our society,” she said.
Charalambous said the state also planned to create special areas for rejected asylum seekers and those slated for deportation, while they await their journey back to their country of origin. Currently those caught as illegal immigrants are thrown in the police cells at Block 10 on the grounds of the Nicosia Central Prisons until they are deported.
Referring to criticism that huge amounts in taxpayers money was going to migrants in benefits, Charalambous said that of the total €219 million given in benefits in 2009, €15.6 million, or some 7.0 per cent went to asylum seekers and political refugees.
“Once a political asylum seeker receives his or her status, he or she can live anywhere in Cyprus and work freely. If they can’t find work and the ministry’s services find that they have no reason not to find work they won’t receive benefits,” said Charalambous.
Opposition DISY deputy Andreas Themistocleous said it was more than evident that if the government continued with its policies on migrants and illegal immigrants, the presence of racism and xenophobia in Cyprus would increase – leading to similar phenomena to those that happened last Friday when nationalist groups came into conflict with migrants at the Rainbow Festival in Larnaca.
“The state has a duty to sign interstate agreements, especially with the countries where most of the migrants come from,” said Themistocleous. “You can’t have a political asylum seeker having the same rights and obligations as a Cypriot citizen. They are not the same and they can’t be.”
