NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus is more than doubling the number of officials vetting asylum applications, shortening application deadlines and fast-tracking deportations as part of a new string of measures aimed at tackling a spike in migrant arrivals, the country’s interior minister said Tuesday.
Unveiling the government’s “action plan” to curtail the migrant influx, Interior Minister Nicos Nouris said asylum-seekers from countries deemed “safe” will see applications processed within 10 days and will have three days to appeal an immediate deportation order.
The government of ethnically divided Cyprus says it has the most asylum-seekers relative to its population among all other European Union member states — about 3.8 percent of its population. The government accuses Turkey of channeling migrants from the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north to the internationally recognized south to purposely alter the country’s demographic character.
Cyprus was split in 1974 when Turkey invaded after a coup by supporters of union with Greece.
