Government Spokesperson, Konstantinos Letymbiotis, said on Wednesday that the government's primary concern is to safeguard public safety as well as the implementation of the cabinet's decisions and relevant decrees particularly in Chloraka community, where clashes erupted recently between locals and immigrants. In statements after the meeting of the Cabinet, chaired by President Nikos Christodoulides, and responding to questions, Letymbiotis said that there was a strong presence of the police in Chloraka on Tuesday evening, pledging that "we will do our utmost to safeguard public safety." It is of utmost importance to take measures in order to prevent similar incidents as those that took place during the last days, he noted. Asked about the evacuation of residential buildings where migrants resided illegally, Letymbiotis said that the required procedures will be followed for those who live illegally in the Republic of Cyprus, while asylum seekers have been transferred to Kofinou Reception and Accommodation Centre, where they were allowed to leave if they wanted to. As regards vulnerable groups and family with children, the Spokesperson said that the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare has been assigned to find the necessary accommodation for them. Moreover, Letymbiots said that the cabinet was briefed on Wednesday by the Minister of the Interior as regards the updated data on migration and the course for the implementation of the plan aiming to address the migration issue. He noted that as a result of the fact that the number of people examining the asylum applications has doubled the whole process has speeded up compared to last year, adding that while last years approximately 1000 applications were examined each month, this year 1800 applications are examined per month. Letymbiotis also said that the number of returns has almost doubled through the special court that has been set out in order to examine applications in a short period of time. He went on to say that concrete measures have been taken to reduce arrivals and a relevant awareness campaign is taking place in third countries such as Congo, Cameroon and Nigeria. Lebymbiotis noted that arrivals have fallen by 55% during the last 4 months compared to the corresponding period of last year and asylum applications in 2023 dropped by 53% compared to the corresponding period of 2022. He also said that infrastructure is being upgraded. Works are already underway in Pournara First Reception Centre with a cost of 25 million euros. "We hope that they will be completed by October to solve problems and improve the conditions," the Spokesperson said. He went on to say that the Reception and Accommodation Centre in Kofinou has been completed and a contract has been signed to set up an Accommodation Centre in Limnes, which will cost 80 million euros and will operate as a pre-departure center. The center will be ready in two years and its hosting capacity will be for 1000 individuals. He said that this means that once this Centre operates they will have the potential to examine 1,000 applications and for 1,000 people to depart from the island every three weeks. Letymbiotis said that they are seeking solutions to cover the existing needs until the Centre is ready. He also noted that the government is taking measures to combat undeclared work as well as the trafficking of migrants.

Source: Cyprus News Agency