The Deputy Ministry of Migration and International Protection announced late on 3 July that it is abandoning a controversial plan to convert a building in Nicosia’s Lycavettos district into a reception facility for unaccompanied migrant children. The about-face follows weeks of protests by neighbourhood residents who said they had not been consulted. Officials insisted the site had always been intended as a short-term transit centre for vulnerable people awaiting repatriation, not a long-term shelter. Nevertheless, Deputy Minister Nicholas Ioannides conceded that “social cohesion considerations” made continuation impossible and promised fresh dialogue before any new location is selected. Cyprus processed 3,039 relocations of asylum-seekers to other EU states in the first half of the year and recorded more than 4,000 deportations, putting acute pressure on reception capacity. Unaccompanied minors account for roughly 6 % of new arrivals – a group that under EU law requires specialised accommodation and guardianship services. Human-rights NGOs warned that cancelling the project without an alternative risks overcrowding at the existing Pournara camp near Kokkinotrimithia, where conditions have already drawn criticism from the Council of Europe. Corporate mobility managers tracking employee-relocation compliance note that public opposition to migrant facilities can influence zoning approvals for broader foreign-worker housing projects. The ministry said it will “evaluate other state-owned properties” and work with EU funding instruments to expand child-friendly capacity by year-end.
Source: Cyprus Mail
