Cyprus minister says his nation leads EU in repatriations and migrant arrivals are down sharply

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus’ interior minister says the east Mediterranean island nation is the first European Union member country to repatriate more migrants whose asylum applications have been rejected than have arrived in a single year. Constantinos Ioannou told the state broadcaster Thursday that over 11,000 migrants have been repatriated so far this year. That’s more than double the number from 2022, ranking Cyprus 4th in repatriations among all EU states in absolute numbers. About two-thirds of those repatriations were voluntary. But Ioannou said a deal EU leaders reached on Wednesday on new rules to control migration falls short of Cyprus’ demand for compulsory relocation of migrants from front-line states under strain from increased arrivals, to other bloc members.