VZCZCXRO9155
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHNC #0495/01 1841156
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 021156Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY NICOSIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8925
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS 2116
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1169
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0235

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NICOSIA 000495 
 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y (ADDING CLASSIFICATION) 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/SE, EUR/ERA, PRM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM CY
SUBJECT: CYPRUS ASYLUM SERVICES STRUGGLING TO COPE WITH 
ASYLUM APPLICATION BACKLOG 
 
NICOSIA 00000495  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: Cyprus enjoys the highest per capita rate 
of asylum seekers in the European Union and is struggling 
with a backlog of nearly 8,000 asylum applications.  RoC 
migration officials claim the majority pass through Turkey 
and the northern part of Cyprus en route to the 
government-controlled area.  Many target Cyprus because of 
its position as the southeastern EU frontier state. The RoC's 
asylum services office and refugee reception facilities are 
understaffed, populated mainly by junior officials, and 
poorly funded, slowing processing and clogging the system -- 
some asylum applicants report wait-times of up to eleven 
years.  Intermittent tsunamis of fraudulent applications 
strain the system as well.  The new Minister of Interior 
seems committed to tackling the problem, but has proven 
unable to push the bureaucracy to institute policy changes. 
Finally, a degree of Cypriot xenophobia fosters a lack of 
urgency regarding asylum issues in general.  END SUMMARY. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
Arrivals Are Rising, But Processing Slow 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Asylum Services department of the Cypriot 
Ministry of Interior is struggling to cope with a per capita 
asylum claim rate that is the EU's highest, which has 
resulted in a backlog of nearly 8,000 applications. 
Strikingly, while the number of asylum seekers in the EU-27 
dropped 50 percent from 2000 to 2006, Cyprus saw a 1,000 
percent jump in the same period.  Although Asylum Services 
has received over 30,000 applications since 2002, it has 
awarded refugee status only to 65 applicants and granted 
humanitarian status to just 286 more.  Asylum applicants 
complain of waiting eleven years or more for closure of their 
cases. Government officials and clients alike admit that the 
system is broken and the backlog unacceptable. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------------- 
Causes of Influx Are Many, Including Easy Access from Turkey 
and the north 
--------------------------------------------- ----------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) According to Asylum Services head Makis Polydorou, 
Turkey's laxness in controlling illegal migration flows and 
an unsecured Green Line are two of the primary reasons for 
the high number of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers in 
Cyprus.  During a June 20 conversation, Polydorou alleged 
that the Turkish Army facilitates the movement of migrants 
and asylum seekers through Turkey and the north of Cyprus, 
across the Green Line and into Republic of Cyprus-controlled 
territory.  Interior Minister Neoklis Sylikiotis publicly 
stated on June 13 that the government cannot effectively 
control the line "because of the Turkish occupation."  Many 
actually are economic migrants from third countries, such as 
the many Syrians who enter the north via the 
Famagusta-Antalya-Latakia ferry. 
 
------------------------------- 
High Volume: On the EU Frontier 
------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) Maltese European Parliamentarian Simon Busuttil, 
speaking at June 13 EP conference in Nicosia on EU 
Immigration Policy, noted another factor behind the 
disproportionate number of asylum applicants and illegal 
immigrants in Cyprus: its location on Europe's southeastern 
frontier.  By default, the island acts as first stop and 
clearinghouse for EU-bound refugees.   Busuttil explained 
that neighboring southern European frontier states such as 
Spain, Italy, Greece and Malta all faced similar migratory 
pressures as Cyprus.  He noted that burden-sharing by 
northern European countries, a definitive EU-wide immigration 
policy, and greater EU solidarity on asylum/refugee issues 
would greatly enhance the southern states' ability to respond 
humanely and quickly to migrants' needs.  It was unfair of 
the northern states and the EU as a whole to make demands 
regarding enforcement and integration of migrants yet expect 
southern European states to pick up the tab and go it alone. 
 
----------------- 
Lack of Resources 
----------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Asylum Services also cites a lack of resources as a 
major factor in its struggle to cope with the influx of 
asylum seekers and applications backlog.   Polydorou revealed 
that his division employs just 20 employees to process and 
 
NICOSIA 00000495  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
investigate asylum claims, although he plans to hire 30 more. 
 However, according to a well-connected journalist at 
English-language daily "Cyprus Mail," the Minister of Finance 
granted Asylum Services only four additional slots. 
Operationally, the Asylum Reception Center at Kofinou is 
ill-equipped and ill-suited to deal with massive flows of 
migrants.  It has a capacity for only 150 people, and, after 
a series of harassment incidents, now accepts only families 
and single women; adult males are given a small stipend and 
left to find their own shelter.  Direct assistance for 
applicants is scarce as well, as asylum applicants receive 
just 350 euros per month, an amount insufficient to cover 
medical services, language training, and other costs.  After 
six months have passed, asylum applicants can work, but only 
in the agricultural sector. 
 
------------------- 
Inefficient Process 
------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Inefficient processing, coupled with a lack of 
expertise from its relatively junior staff, clogs the system 
and adds to the backlog.  Polydorou noted that Asylum 
Services was established only in January 2002, following the 
enactment of the Refugee Law in 2000.  Prior to 2002, the RoC 
partnered with the International Organization for Migration 
(IOM) and UNHCR.  Doros Polykarpou, the director of migration 
rights NGO KISA, lamented the long asylum claim processing 
times during a June 24 meeting with Embassy staff. 
Polycarpou claimed refugees often waited three to four years 
between their initial contact with the government and any 
follow-up.  Such delays kept them in a dangerous limbo. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Asylum Services is making efforts to streamline the 
asylum-application process.  Netherlands Embassy contacts 
revealed recently that the European Refugee Fund has approved 
monies for a joint proposal by the Cypriot and Dutch services 
to improve reception facilities and speed claims processing 
for asylum seekers.  Polydorou asserted that his office had 
"fast-tracked" asylum seekers from certain countries and 
groups, including Iraqi refugees, in an effort to speed up 
the system.  Asylum Services also had placed six experienced 
adjudicators at the Kofinou Reception Center to immediately 
capture asylum information.  KISA's Polycarpou doubted the 
efficacy of that move, however. 
 
----------------- 
Fraud/ Abuse, Too 
----------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Both Polycarpou and Polydorou acknowledged that 
fraud and abuse of the asylum system is occurring and 
contributing to the backlog.  Many applicants truly are 
economic migrants, especially the Syrians.  Further, 
immigrant leaders in the Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi 
communities, often serving as translators for the police or 
migratory services, have activated waves of false asylum 
seekers by promising to use their influence with the 
government to help other refugees.  Polydorou claimed that 
such misinformation caused the 2004 wave of asylum 
applications (an all-time high of 9,285 submitted in one 
year).  Polycarpou stated there were also cases of attorneys 
advising individuals to file for asylum once their residency 
permits expired. 
 
---------------------------------- 
Bureaucratic Blocking Doesn't Help 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Polycarpou revealed that Interior Minister 
Sylikiotis was having a difficult time instituting new 
migration and asylum policies because of resistance from 
unwelcoming staff and pushback from other ministries.  The 
Minister, who was also a founding member of KISA, has 
complained to Polykarpou that he holds meetings every week to 
explain the changes in asylum applications policy, and every 
week, the situation stays the same.  Sylikiotis had also 
asked the Ministry of Labor to increase the number of sectors 
where asylum seekers could work, but his request was refused. 
 Allegedly, the Minister is now furious because every staff 
member he brought into Asylum Services is attempting to 
transfer out. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
NICOSIA 00000495  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Many factors contribute to the asylum application 
backlog, but just a few are under Cyprus's direct control. 
Funding more full-time Asylum Services positions would go a 
long way towards processing applications quickly and clearing 
out the system.  Also, Cyprus would benefit from following 
Malta's lead in building a stronger case for additional EU 
funding for countries on the frontier of Europe.  Weeding out 
translators and attorneys who abuse the asylum system is 
another way to cut the backlog, or at least prevent it from 
lengthening.  But the greatest potential improvement lies in 
Sylikiotis's efforts to implement systemic change and create 
an atmosphere that is asylum- and refugee-friendly.  The job 
won't be easy or quick, and the Minister must confront a 
degree of xenophobia that underpins the lack of urgency in 
dealing with the refugee/asylum problem here.  Cyprus 
historically exported migrants.  Its citizens have little 
experience dealing with the needs of refugees and asylum 
seekers, and its officials seem uncomfortable tackling the 
problem.  For example, media recently ridiculed the 
government's decision not to file a mandated EU Racism Report 
because, according to one RoC official, "there is no racism 
in Cyprus."  Recent hate crimes, including an attack on four 
non-natives in Ypsonas village and a violent incident in a 
Limassol mosque, reveal a different aspect of the local 
reality, however. 
SCHLICHER