An appeal was made at the weekend to the EU border agency to help Cyprus manage its migratory flow.

The difficulties Cyprus is facing managing the flow of illegal migrants making their way into the Republic through the Green Line was outlined during the Med5 summit in Malta on Friday and Saturday by director general of the interior ministry Costas Constantinou.

He said the flow was disproportionally large compared to other European countries.

The Med5 summit was attended by interior ministry representatives of Greece, Italy, Spain, Malta and Cyprus, countries that are faced with constant issues posed by the arrival of illegal migrants. The meeting took place in Malta’s capital of La Valletta.

Officials discussed several topics related to increased migratory flows, namely the difficulties in managing the arrival of illegal migrants, return procedures, the necessity of cooperating with other European countries and asylum seekers.

Last December, a Frontex report described Cyprus as a “role model in terms of returns”, speedily sending those from safe countries back home once their application for asylum has been rejected.

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