Cyprus considers Malta as its main partner in pushing the other EU member states to start opening up to the idea of sharing the burden of irregular migration with peripheral and small member states.
Asylum seekers will still end up in the northern member states if we can’t cope
The EU has been trying to create a Common European Asylum System (CEAS) for years, with the most recent deadline being 2012. However, many are still sceptical about a final compromise.
Cypriot Home Minister Neoklis Sylikiotis is one of the few hopefuls. Pointing out that Malta is his biggest ally in his arguments during the monthly meetings in Brussels of the Justice and Home Affairs Councils, he said he was optimistic that objecting member states would come round.
“I have developed a very good working relationship with my Maltese counterpart (Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici) and together we form a good tandem arguing on the need of a common asylum system. The road ahead is hard but I believe that together with our Mediterranean partners we will arrive.”
The biggest stumbling block so far is the resistance of countries like the UK and the Scandinavian bloc.
“I believe that at the end of the day, these countries will realise that it is in their interest too to participate in a common system,” Mr Sylikiotis said.
“Court sentences have already stated that the current Dublin II regulation (which puts the burden of asylum recognition on the country of first entry) is not to be followed in cases where a country such as Greece is overburdened and cannot cope. This shows that asylum seekers will still end up in northern member states if we can’t cope any longer. So I believe it is in their interest to agree on fairer rules.”
One other reason for the minister’s optimism is that Cyprus will be steering the EU presidency during the second half of 2012 – the period when a final agreement on the CEAS should be in place. Nicosia intends to use its presidential leverage to make a final and possibly determining push.
Although Cyprus is 30 times the size of Malta and recently had lower migration flows, irregular immigrants are still considered as one of the main problems topping the country’s political agenda.
Unlike Malta, many of the asylum seekers do not reach Cyprus through their sea borders but through the Turkish-occupied part of the country. They fly to an unofficial airport in the northern part of the island – with Turkey’s apparent blessing – and penetrate the south through large gaps in the island’s 184-kilometre dividing green line. The majority are Palestinians living in Iraq although the recent turmoil in Syria is also having a surge effect.
Upon arrival, all irregular immigrants apply for asylum status and are entitled to a €450 per month allowance and an additional €250 per month to rent a place to stay. They are also given another €250 for each dependent. This is costing Cyprus some €20 million a year.
The European Parliament is trying to give a helping hand to Malta and Cyprus to get their message across and MEPs have already given the green-light for the establishment of a CEAS.
“The ball is now in the council’s (member states) court. Member states need to show real solidarity if we are to address this common problem. It’s time for member states to walk the talk,” MEP Simon Busuttil, who is also the European People’s Party coordinator on the influential Civil Liberties Committee, told the seminar in Nicosia.
The issue will once again top the agenda of EU home ministers meeting in Luxembourg later this week.