Cyprus’s Deputy Minister of Migration and International Protection, Nikolas Ioannides, expressed his satisfaction on Tuesday in Brussels over the successful conclusion of negotiations with the European Parliament and the European Commission on the Returns Regulation, noting that Cyprus will join after the end of the Presidency discussions on the creation of return hubs, as this would help the Republic of Cyprus to further increase its returns.
Speaking to CNA, Ioannides described the agreement reached as “a very important achievement for all of Europe and for the Cyprus Presidency of the EU Council.”
He stressed that the new Regulation provides the legal basis for establishing return hubs, a tool that had previously proved impossible to implement. “There was nothing like this in the past and there was no political will either,” he noted, adding that “this time we have the majority of 100 members, the Commission and the Parliament, but also European citizens, all wanting this solution.”
On the implementation of the Regulation, the Deputy Minister pointed to a phased transition. “Some articles will start applying immediately, others will need some time,” he explained, noting that articles requiring legislative changes and administrative measures will begin to apply one year after the Regulation enters into force.
Asked about the protection of human rights in return hubs, Ioannides underlined that the relevant provision had been “a red line for many member states, including Cyprus.” He said that “the involvement of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) will be sought, in order to ensure that the human rights of people in the return hubs will not be violated.”
The Deputy Minister placed the significance of the agreement within the broader EU migration framework, ahead of the entry into force of the Pact on Migration and Asylum on June 12. “It was the missing piece – we now have it too, because a comprehensive migration policy needs to have all the necessary elements, and in this way we will improve the EU’s migration policy,” he said. As he underlined, this legislative reform “was something the citizens of the European Union were demanding. We want to regain citizens’ trust in institutions and implement an effective but fair migration policy across the EU,” he said.
Ioannidis described the agreement as a proof that the Cyprus Presidency is delivering on its commitments. “Before taking over the Presidency of the Council, we said that the Cyprus Presidency wants to play a substantive role and not be merely formal and administrative,” he stated. With such agreements, “we are delivering on what we said from the outset, while practically we now have a legal framework that will strengthen returns from all EU member states,” he added. He noted that while Cyprus already has a very effective returns system, this is not the case for the rest of the European Union.
Responding to a question on Cyprus’s participation in future discussions on return hubs, which have already been initiated by member states including Germany, Italy, Denmark and Greece, he underlined that “Cyprus is interested in participating in this discussion on the creation of such hubs, as it will also help the Republic of Cyprus increase its returns even further.” He added that this would serve as “a deterrent for those who are not entitled to international protection and attempt to abuse Cyprus’s asylum system,” as they would know that “if they have no legal right to remain, they will leave quickly, either to their home country or to such return hubs.”