DESPITE a dramatic reduction in the number of political asylum applications in the last three years, Cyprus currently receives the most applications per capita in the EU, the head of the Asylum Service said yesterday.
Last year, the number of new applications stood at 2,544, compared to 5,909 in 2007, and 9,285 in 2004. At the moment, the Asylum Service has some 1,400 applicants pending before it, and from the start of this year 172 new applications have been filed. In addition, 1,788 cases are being processed by the Review Authority for Refugees.
Makis Polydorou, head of the Asylum Service, attributed the drop in applications to steps taken by the current administration. He said the majority of applications are rejected, and that applications are processed immediately, which allows authorities to waste no time in discerning unjustified requests from genuine ones. At any rate, examining an application does not take more than six months.
On the benefits paid to asylum seekers, political refugees and persons under subsidiary protection, Polydorou said that beneficiary families receive €452 a month plus an additional €226 for every dependant, as well as a rent allowance.
These amounts, he said, are stipulated in a law passed unanimously by parliament in 2006.
The government aims to set up reception centres on the island, and has got the EU’s approval for a 75 per cent co-financing of one such centre that will host around 200 persons. In addition to lodging and food, families living in the centre will be receiving an €80 euro allowance per month, plus €17 per dependant.
This policy would help reduce government spending in this area although, Polydorou stressed, Cyprus has an obligation first and foremost to assist genuine asylum seekers.
On the recent incidents at the Larnaca welfare office involving Palestinians, Polydorou said the government would act decisively by revoking the status of those asylum seekers and possibly deporting them.
Meanwhile in Nicosia yesterday, an open discussion on the integration of migrants was held with the participation of the Association of Recognised Refugees, Nicosia mayor Eleni Mavrou and deputy Larnaca mayor Alexis Michaelides.
The event was attended by a number of recognized political refugees, who complained mostly about institutional discrimination in Cyprus.
Mohammed, a young man from Iran, claimed he was having difficulties in getting bank loans for his business because he was not a Cypriot.
He said his application for citizenship has been pending since 2007.
“When I tried to get a permit to import goods for my business, I was told I could not because I’m not a Cypriot. When I tried to change my name to ‘Antonis’, I was told the same. What is going on here?”
Another man, also from Iran, said he had excellent relations with Cypriots, but that authorities here turn a blind eye to migrants’ needs.
“Yes, Cyprus receives many asylum seekers and political refugees. But it’s what happens later that matters…we are basically left to our own devices.”
The “zero-five” issue also came up at the discussion. This is printed on the identity cards of all recognized political refugees, and precedes the normal number assigned to an identity card.
Migrants complained that the zero-five cards distinguish them from the rest of the population, allowing authorities to discriminate against their holders.
One woman, formerly a political refugee and now with Cypriot citizenship, said she was not allowed to travel to the north of the island when police at the checkpoints saw her ID card.
Others complained of the lack of access to Greek language courses, wondering how they are supposed to integrate without being able to communicate with Cypriots.
