Cyprus has implemented one of Europe’s toughest migrant return policies and will lead negotiations on an EU-wide returns plan when it assumes the Council of the European Union presidency.
Cypriot diplomats will oversee talks on returning irregular migrants to hubs outside Europe, building on the island’s own programme that achieved the highest per capita number of returning migrants in the EU, according to EU data.
“Cyprus has implemented a successful programme for returns, most of which are voluntary, and we would like to see a solid legal basis that will help other states to implement them,” Deputy Minister of Migration Nicholas Ioannides told Politico.
Cyprus, with a population of 1.2 million people and located close to Syria, Lebanon and other Middle Eastern countries, had the highest asylum applications per capita in the EU for many years.
Nicosia established a migration policy in 2024 with returns at its centre. Departures are now five times higher than arrivals, according to Ioannides.
The Danish presidency concluded negotiations on a common Council position on the draft returns regulation. The new measures would allow EU countries to remove failed asylum seekers, set up centres to process asylum requests overseas and create removal hubs outside their borders.
Cyprus will lead three-way negotiations between countries, the European Parliament and the Commission, expected to begin around March when the European Parliament agrees on its own negotiating position. Nicosia aims to complete the talks during its presidency before June.
The EU, earlier this month, also agreed to cut trade preferences for countries that do not cooperate on taking in returning migrants.
The returns policy, proposed in March, forms part of the Migration and Asylum Pact adopted last year, which will start applying in mid-2026.
A record-breaking influx of asylum seekers in 2022 turned migration into a contentious political issue in Cyprus. Demonstrations and violent attacks against migrant workers and small migrant-led enterprises took place, revealing deep anti-migrant sentiment.
In April 2024, Nicosia declared a state of emergency and suspended asylum application processing. According to some reports, authorities have unofficially started processing applications on an individual basis, including those from Syrian nationals.
“Since the day we were elected, we have completely changed our procedures regarding immigration,” President Nikos Christodoulides told Politico. “Cyprus is no longer considered an attractive destination”.
“We need to address the root causes of migration and work with the countries of origin to create conditions that will encourage people to stay,” Christodoulides said. “Return hubs alone will not work. They must be part of a broader package.”
Nicosia implemented a voluntary returns programme for Syrian families last summer, offering financial incentives. Eligible families could receive a one-off payment and a special work permit for the main income earner, provided other family members returned to Syria and withdrew their asylum applications.
More than 10,000 returns and 1,000 resettlements took place in 2024, according to Ioannides. That number is expected to be higher in 2025.
Cyprus’s policies have drawn criticism from courts and human rights groups. The European Court of Human Rights has condemned Cyprus for pushing Syrian migrants back to Lebanon.
Lawyers have reported repeated violations of court decisions by the Cypriot government to force migrant deportations. Human rights organisations have repeatedly accused the Cypriot government of violating international law for forcibly returning asylum seekers arriving by boat.
“There appears to be indirect pressure on asylum seekers to leave: most expect rejection, living on state benefits is untenable, and a nine-month work ban pushes many into the informal labour market. This, in turn, fuels workplace raids targeting them, leading to deportations,” said Kyriaki Chatzipanagiotou, policy officer at MedMA, a regional asylum and migration policy organisation.
Cyprus strongly supports the “innovative ideas” in the EU’s plan, Ioannides said, including establishing facilities outside the continent to receive people deported from Europe.
The country has pushed for EU aid to Lebanon to control flows and lobbied to declare parts of Syria safe for return.
“These ideas are beginning to take shape, moving from theory to practice … They will offer important solutions for managing migration,” Ioannides said.
(information from Politico)