Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08NICOSIA495
2008-07-02 11:56:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Nicosia
Cable title:  

CYPRUS ASYLUM SERVICES STRUGGLING TO COPE WITH

Tags:  PGOV PREL PHUM CY 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO9155
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHNC #0495/01 1841156
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 021156Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY NICOSIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8925
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS 2116
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1169
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0235
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NICOSIA 000495 

SIPDIS

C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (ADDING CLASSIFICATION)

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR EUR/SE, EUR/ERA, PRM

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM CY
SUBJECT: CYPRUS ASYLUM SERVICES STRUGGLING TO COPE WITH
ASYLUM APPLICATION BACKLOG

NICOSIA 00000495 001.2 OF 003


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NICOSIA 000495

SIPDIS

C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (ADDING CLASSIFICATION)

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR EUR/SE, EUR/ERA, PRM

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM CY
SUBJECT: CYPRUS ASYLUM SERVICES STRUGGLING TO COPE WITH
ASYLUM APPLICATION BACKLOG

NICOSIA 00000495 001.2 OF 003



1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Cyprus enjoys the highest per capita rate
of asylum seekers in the European Union and is struggling
with a backlog of nearly 8,000 asylum applications. RoC
migration officials claim the majority pass through Turkey
and the northern part of Cyprus en route to the
government-controlled area. Many target Cyprus because of
its position as the southeastern EU frontier state. The RoC's
asylum services office and refugee reception facilities are
understaffed, populated mainly by junior officials, and
poorly funded, slowing processing and clogging the system --
some asylum applicants report wait-times of up to eleven
years. Intermittent tsunamis of fraudulent applications
strain the system as well. The new Minister of Interior
seems committed to tackling the problem, but has proven
unable to push the bureaucracy to institute policy changes.
Finally, a degree of Cypriot xenophobia fosters a lack of
urgency regarding asylum issues in general. END SUMMARY.

--------------
Arrivals Are Rising, But Processing Slow
--------------


2. (SBU) The Asylum Services department of the Cypriot
Ministry of Interior is struggling to cope with a per capita
asylum claim rate that is the EU's highest, which has
resulted in a backlog of nearly 8,000 applications.
Strikingly, while the number of asylum seekers in the EU-27
dropped 50 percent from 2000 to 2006, Cyprus saw a 1,000
percent jump in the same period. Although Asylum Services
has received over 30,000 applications since 2002, it has
awarded refugee status only to 65 applicants and granted
humanitarian status to just 286 more. Asylum applicants
complain of waiting eleven years or more for closure of their
cases. Government officials and clients alike admit that the
system is broken and the backlog unacceptable.

-------------- --------------
Causes of Influx Are Many, Including Easy Access from Turkey
and the north
-------------- --------------


3. (SBU) According to Asylum Services head Makis Polydorou,
Turkey's laxness in controlling illegal migration flows and
an unsecured Green Line are two of the primary reasons for

the high number of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers in
Cyprus. During a June 20 conversation, Polydorou alleged
that the Turkish Army facilitates the movement of migrants
and asylum seekers through Turkey and the north of Cyprus,
across the Green Line and into Republic of Cyprus-controlled
territory. Interior Minister Neoklis Sylikiotis publicly
stated on June 13 that the government cannot effectively
control the line "because of the Turkish occupation." Many
actually are economic migrants from third countries, such as
the many Syrians who enter the north via the
Famagusta-Antalya-Latakia ferry.

--------------
High Volume: On the EU Frontier
--------------


4. (U) Maltese European Parliamentarian Simon Busuttil,
speaking at June 13 EP conference in Nicosia on EU
Immigration Policy, noted another factor behind the
disproportionate number of asylum applicants and illegal
immigrants in Cyprus: its location on Europe's southeastern
frontier. By default, the island acts as first stop and
clearinghouse for EU-bound refugees. Busuttil explained
that neighboring southern European frontier states such as
Spain, Italy, Greece and Malta all faced similar migratory
pressures as Cyprus. He noted that burden-sharing by
northern European countries, a definitive EU-wide immigration
policy, and greater EU solidarity on asylum/refugee issues
would greatly enhance the southern states' ability to respond
humanely and quickly to migrants' needs. It was unfair of
the northern states and the EU as a whole to make demands
regarding enforcement and integration of migrants yet expect
southern European states to pick up the tab and go it alone.

--------------
Lack of Resources
--------------


5. (SBU) Asylum Services also cites a lack of resources as a
major factor in its struggle to cope with the influx of
asylum seekers and applications backlog. Polydorou revealed
that his division employs just 20 employees to process and

NICOSIA 00000495 002.2 OF 003


investigate asylum claims, although he plans to hire 30 more.
However, according to a well-connected journalist at
English-language daily "Cyprus Mail," the Minister of Finance
granted Asylum Services only four additional slots.
Operationally, the Asylum Reception Center at Kofinou is
ill-equipped and ill-suited to deal with massive flows of
migrants. It has a capacity for only 150 people, and, after
a series of harassment incidents, now accepts only families
and single women; adult males are given a small stipend and
left to find their own shelter. Direct assistance for
applicants is scarce as well, as asylum applicants receive
just 350 euros per month, an amount insufficient to cover
medical services, language training, and other costs. After
six months have passed, asylum applicants can work, but only
in the agricultural sector.

--------------
Inefficient Process
--------------


6. (SBU) Inefficient processing, coupled with a lack of
expertise from its relatively junior staff, clogs the system
and adds to the backlog. Polydorou noted that Asylum
Services was established only in January 2002, following the
enactment of the Refugee Law in 2000. Prior to 2002, the RoC
partnered with the International Organization for Migration
(IOM) and UNHCR. Doros Polykarpou, the director of migration
rights NGO KISA, lamented the long asylum claim processing
times during a June 24 meeting with Embassy staff.
Polycarpou claimed refugees often waited three to four years
between their initial contact with the government and any
follow-up. Such delays kept them in a dangerous limbo.


7. (SBU) Asylum Services is making efforts to streamline the
asylum-application process. Netherlands Embassy contacts
revealed recently that the European Refugee Fund has approved
monies for a joint proposal by the Cypriot and Dutch services
to improve reception facilities and speed claims processing
for asylum seekers. Polydorou asserted that his office had
"fast-tracked" asylum seekers from certain countries and
groups, including Iraqi refugees, in an effort to speed up
the system. Asylum Services also had placed six experienced
adjudicators at the Kofinou Reception Center to immediately
capture asylum information. KISA's Polycarpou doubted the
efficacy of that move, however.

--------------
Fraud/ Abuse, Too
--------------


8. (SBU) Both Polycarpou and Polydorou acknowledged that
fraud and abuse of the asylum system is occurring and
contributing to the backlog. Many applicants truly are
economic migrants, especially the Syrians. Further,
immigrant leaders in the Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi
communities, often serving as translators for the police or
migratory services, have activated waves of false asylum
seekers by promising to use their influence with the
government to help other refugees. Polydorou claimed that
such misinformation caused the 2004 wave of asylum
applications (an all-time high of 9,285 submitted in one
year). Polycarpou stated there were also cases of attorneys
advising individuals to file for asylum once their residency
permits expired.

--------------
Bureaucratic Blocking Doesn't Help
--------------


9. (SBU) Polycarpou revealed that Interior Minister
Sylikiotis was having a difficult time instituting new
migration and asylum policies because of resistance from
unwelcoming staff and pushback from other ministries. The
Minister, who was also a founding member of KISA, has
complained to Polykarpou that he holds meetings every week to
explain the changes in asylum applications policy, and every
week, the situation stays the same. Sylikiotis had also
asked the Ministry of Labor to increase the number of sectors
where asylum seekers could work, but his request was refused.
Allegedly, the Minister is now furious because every staff
member he brought into Asylum Services is attempting to
transfer out.

--------------
Comment
--------------

NICOSIA 00000495 003 OF 003




10. (SBU) Many factors contribute to the asylum application
backlog, but just a few are under Cyprus's direct control.
Funding more full-time Asylum Services positions would go a
long way towards processing applications quickly and clearing
out the system. Also, Cyprus would benefit from following
Malta's lead in building a stronger case for additional EU
funding for countries on the frontier of Europe. Weeding out
translators and attorneys who abuse the asylum system is
another way to cut the backlog, or at least prevent it from
lengthening. But the greatest potential improvement lies in
Sylikiotis's efforts to implement systemic change and create
an atmosphere that is asylum- and refugee-friendly. The job
won't be easy or quick, and the Minister must confront a
degree of xenophobia that underpins the lack of urgency in
dealing with the refugee/asylum problem here. Cyprus
historically exported migrants. Its citizens have little
experience dealing with the needs of refugees and asylum
seekers, and its officials seem uncomfortable tackling the
problem. For example, media recently ridiculed the
government's decision not to file a mandated EU Racism Report
because, according to one RoC official, "there is no racism
in Cyprus." Recent hate crimes, including an attack on four
non-natives in Ypsonas village and a violent incident in a
Limassol mosque, reveal a different aspect of the local
reality, however.
SCHLICHER