By Martin Hellicar
CYPRUS and Syria have signed a memorandum aimed at thwarting illegal immigrants heading for the island from the Arab state.
When completed, the deal will oblige Syria to take back illegal immigrants leaving her shores and arriving in Cyprus, Interior Minister Christodoulos Christodoulou said yesterday.
Cyprus – fearful of a flood of boat people – has already signed a similar agreement with Lebanon. Last month, this earlier agreement allowed the government to negotiate the return of a boatload of illegal immigrants to Tripoli, Lebanon.
Christodoulou ironed out the new deal with his Syrian counterpart Muhammad Harbah during a three-day official visit to Syria, which ended yesterday.
Speaking after his return, Christodoulou said Syria was ready to sign an agreement to take back illegal immigrants who were Syrian or from a third country but whose last port of call had been Syria.
The minister said the agreement with Syria was reciprocal, but was unlikely ever to be used for Cypriots.
Christodoulou, who said “traditionally good” relations with Syria had been strengthened by his visit, added that Syria was tightening up controls on who it would allow to travel to Cyprus.
“The Syrian side announced to me, with much satisfaction, that it had set certain criteria for the Syrian citizens who will be allowed to visit Cyprus,” he said.
Henceforth, only Syrians who were businessmen, qualified scientists or students would be allowed to visit Cyprus, he said. “An exception will be made for Syrian citizens from high income brackets coming to Cyprus as tourists,” the minister said.
Christodoulou said the 1,000 Syrians on the island legally were outnumbered by 500 by those with expired work permits.
He said the estimated total of illegal immigrants on the island was between three and five thousand. But he added that the recent completion of new detention cells for illegal immigrants at the Nicosia central prison meant police could now launch a crack-down on these thousands.
Christodoulou also repeated the government’s fears that there were “thousands” of Arab and African immigrants queuing up to come to Cyprus.
The arrival of boatloads of immigrants on local shores has become a frequent occurrence in recent months. Several immigrants who washed up on various occasions have been held under police guard in Limassol and Larnaca for months now.
