Over the past year, the number of deportations and repatriations of third-country citizens illegally residing in the territory of the Republic of Cyprus has increased by more than 800 people.
From the start of 2024 to date, 6,800 people have been deported or repatriated, a significant increase from the same period last year, when the total was 5,977.
Cyprus Police spokesman Christos Andreou said that every week about 200 third-country nationals return to their homeland as a result of operations carried out by the police in cooperation with other competent authorities. These operations are aimed at identifying and repatriating illegal immigrants living in Cyprus.
On 20 August 2024, Cypriot police took part in a joint operation to return illegal immigrants organized by Greece under the coordination of the European Union's external border security agency FRONTEX. During the operation, 7 people illegally residing in Cyprus were repatriated; these were citizens of Pakistan and Georgia. This is the ninth participation of the Cypriot authorities in such operations in 2024.
“There is a process in place whereby individuals found to be in the wrong are apprehended and then either deported by order or repatriated, if they so choose, to their home countries,” explained Christos Andreou. According to him, among the repatriated citizens are people from Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, African countries and other countries.
The police and the Aliens and Immigration Service continue to intensify operations aimed at identifying illegal immigrants, with the aim of further increasing the number of third-country nationals repatriated.
Source: omegalive.com.cy
Photo: edition.cnn.com
