Country : REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS

Topic : Establishing Solutions to the European Refugees Crisis

Delegates : Farah Meilia Aribowo, Elvrina Ain Nur Rahmawati,
Elvianti Nabilah Sari Arifin

There are currently over 3.9 million refugees who have fled the conflict in Syria, approximately
18% of the total Syrian population, with an additional 7.6 million internally displaced within
the country. In 2014, 122.790 asylum applicants came from Syria, around 20% of the total
number of asylum applicants in the EU. So far, 6% of refugees from Syria who have fled the
conflict have sought for asylum in Europe. However, access to the EU for the vast majority has
been extremely difficult. There are different types of protection accessible to refugees: asylum,
resettlement, humanitarian admission, private sponsorship, scholarships for students,
humanitarian visas, expanded opportunities for family reunification, medical evacuation, or
“asylum” visas.

The wave of immigration in Cyprus the last decades began as a result of the economic
development of the island and because of political situations such as, the collapse of the former
Soviet Union, the Gulf War, the Pontian migration from the Caucasus region, and etc. The
surge in asylum seekers arriving in Cyprus is a result of the island's geography which is close
to Lebanon and Turkey, making it tempting for people fleeing the war in Syria. Besides, its
complex history as a divided country makes it harder to regulate migrant inflows. That makes
Cyprus a magnet for asylum seekers at that time. In addition, the accession process of Cyprus
to the European Union turned the island into an attractive destination, especially for asylum
seekers and immigrants, because the country is a “waiting room” for those who wish to migrate
to northern Europe.

In 1989 when Cyprus first opened its doors to immigrants for work purposes, it was considered
by lawmakers that “foreign labour” would be needed for a short time only. Thus, it was
necessary to establish an immigration policy or integration plan specifically with immigrants
in mind. Cyprus support the idea that there should be a limit on how many refugees can be let
in, and that once this limit is reached no more should be accepted, according to a study by
UNHCR1 polling Greek and Turkish Cypriots. A majority also reject the idea of permitting
refugees to obtain citizenship after living in Cyprus for more than five years2

Cyprus formed a law on refugees as it has received submissions from immigrants to seek
asylum in 2000 and experienced many revisions to adapt the law to international conventions.
Later in 2004, Cyprus also established an asylum service where the refugees who have been
granted asylum-related permits can receive social allowances or grants that are equally received
by the Cypriots. This policy underlines the significance of no discrimination between
immigrants with the original Cypriots3. Aside from that, Cypriot Government has also
established a Basic National Plan (BNP) called “Zenon” which involves the collaboration of a
number of competent and co-competent ministers to create a national strategy in dealing with
refugees in Cyprus.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Interior has developed a framework called “Navkratis” under
BNP which outlines the must-follow responsibilities and procedures in accepting, supporting
and offering humanitarian aid for the refugees. Under Navkratis, the Ministry of Health is also
responsible in providing health-care services, maintaining public health, and implementing the
International Health Regulations. The health-care services also include immunation programs
for the refugees in order to minimize and prevent the spread of viruses or diseases. In addition,
the government has established Cyprus Red Cross Society which provides humanitarian
support, such as food and clothes, for refugees and in fact, has reached up to 5.000 refugees in
two consecutive years. Meanwhile in cooperation with the Department of Defense, a defence
team in Cyprus ports has been established to be the first party to give health assistance in the
entrance of refugees arrival4. Therefore, it is clear that Cyprus has been endeavoring to provide
the aids and assistances for the refugees’ welfare through its programs and policies.

Given the problems and situations require an immediate response and solution, the Republic
of Cyprus believes that this is not an individual problem, rather this is Europe’s responsibility.
Hence, the Republic of Cyprus is calling for a conscientious cooperation between European
Union countries to solve this refugees crisis. The fact that the number of asylum seekers keeps

1
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining the
Status of Refugees. Under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, 2011.
2
Trimikliniotis & Demetriou, Migrant Workers in Cyprus: A Critical Appraisal, 2011.
3
Cochliou & Spaneas, Asylum System in Cyprus: A Field for Social Work Practice, 2009.
4
World Health Organization, Cyprus: assessing health-system capacity to manage sudden lage influxes of
migrants (online), 2015. Available: http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/293330/Cyprus-
Assessment-Report-en.pdf?ua=1
on increasing offers more reason to create a benevolent comprehensive collective action rather
than unilaterally deliver aids and assistances. Specifically, the Republic of Cyprus is proposing
a few solutions in order to implement the idea of cooperation between the European Union
countries regarding this issue, as follows:

1. Calling all member states of European Union to open their borders without neglecting
the national policy concerning refugees and set up a decent asylum-seekers quota, based
on the capabilities of each country, in order to distribute a proportionate responsibility
2. Deterring the refugees smuggling to take place by strengthening the security
mechanism in each country, especially those of frontline Europe
3. Establishing a “transit zone” where each country can quickly process asylum
application and reject those who do not qualify for humanitarian protection
4. Enhancing the asylum claims mechanism in order to prevent refugees application from
piling up and prepare each country to handle refugee influx that could occur at any time
5. Creating and improving the sustainable integration system for refugees in each
European Union countries to have decent access to labor market without harming the
citizen’s rights and opportunities
6. Creating a healthy and just environment to enforce human rights and prevent any kind
of discrimination towards refugees, and providing humanitarian assistance in order to
ease their hardships

References:
Cochliou, Despina, and Spaneas, Stefanos. 2009. “Asylum System in Cyprus: A Field for
Social Work Practice”, in European Journal of Social Work, (12-4), 535-540.
Trimikliniotis, Nicos, and Corina Demetriou. 2011. “Migrant Workers in Cyprus: A Critical
Appraisal,” in Precarious Migrant Labour across Europe, M. Pajnik and G. Campani.
Ljubljana (eds.), pp. 73–96.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). 2011. Handbook on Procedures
and Criteria for Determining the Status of Refugees. Under the 1951 Convention and
the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, [Online]. Available in
http://www.unhcr.org/publications/legal/3d58e13b4/handbookprocedures-criteria-
determining-refugee-status-under-1951-convention.html. Accessed on 18 November
2019.
World Health Organization. 2015. Cyprus: Assessing healt-system capacity to manage sudden
large influxes of migrants, [Online] Available in
http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/293330/Cyprus-Assessment-
Report-en.pdf?ua=1. Accessed on 17 November 2019.