Nicosia – ESI presentation on Cyprus, Germany & the Future of European Refugee Policy
ESI’s Gerald Knaus was invited to speak in the regular online discussion format “Grab a Cypriot Coffee” on the topic of “Cyprus, Germany & the Future of European Refugee Policy” organised by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Cyprus.
Gerald spoke about the current migrant crisis in Cyprus, where between the years 2018 and 2021, the island had a total of 40,000 applications and until mid-year 2022, it already was registering 12,000 applications and could end the year with at least 20,000 asylum applications. Per capita, this is the highest rate of asylum application in all 27 EU countries.
In his presentation, Gerald also stressed what Germany and civil society can do to help Cyprus and how the future of the EU’s asylum policy might be decided on how the bloc deals with the crisis in Cyprus, with a positive response. That is why humane control of borders and asylum processing is key, as well as concluding migration agreements with countries of origin and safe third countries.