Author
The Asylum Service at times may give priority to the examination of asylum applications in two cases: cases that are likely to be unfounded because of the country of origin of the applicant and countries that are going through a political or humanitarian crisis and are likely to be well-founded.[1]
In the first case, the Asylum Service aims to examine asylum applications from countries included in the ‘safe countries’ list soon after they have been submitted. However, due to the backlog this is not always possible.
In cases of asylum applicants from countries that are going through a political or humanitarian crisis, the examinations of their asylum applications are usually put on hold until the authorities decide of a policy that will be followed. Examples of this occurred in the past with Iraqi and Syrian asylum applicants. In both instances, the examination of the asylum applications was on hold for approximately two years, but once examinations resumed, priority was given to these cases for a certain period of time.[2]
Subsidiary protection is granted as a matter of policy to applicants from Syria: in 2020, 21 persons received refugee status and 1,396 received subsidiary protection. In 2021, 24 persons received refugee status and 1,913 subsidiary protection.
From February 2022 onwards, the Cyprus Refugee Council noted that the asylum applications of Syrian nationals were not being examined.[3] No official policy on the matter was made public at the time, however the annual statistics confirmed that only an extremely low number of applications were decided on as 167 Syrian nationals received protection in 2022 (8 persons received refugee status and 159 subsidiary protection, of which 129 in January 2022).[4] In early 2023, the situation remained the same but in mid-2023 examination resumed and by the end of the year, 2,040 persons had received subsidiary protection and 43 persons refugee status.
In early 2024, examination of asylum applications of Syrian nationals continued, however on 15 April 2024, the Government announced a new policy suspending the processing of asylum claims by Syrians. This decision is currently affecting some 14,000 Syrians, leaving them in legal limbo and dependent on State aid for housing and subsistence.[5] The Policy applies to all Syrian asylum applicants, regardless of the date of submission.[6]
In 2024, 48 persons received refugee status and 1,757 received subsidiary protection, with the vast majority of decisions issued between January and April 2024.[7] The policy of not examining applications of Syrian nationals remains in place since then, with few exceptions of vulnerable persons receiving protection.[8]
Since 2015, Palestinians from Syria receive refugee status, however statistically they are registered as Syrian nationals, which indicates that among the persons receiving refugee status and registered as Syrian nationals many are actually Palestinians from Syria.[9]
[1]Information provided by Cyprus Refugee Council.
[2] Information provided by Cyprus Refugee Council.
[3] Information based on cases represented by the Cyprus Refugee Council.
[4] Information provided by Cyprus Asylum Service.
[5] UNHCR, Thematic Fact Sheet on Reception in Cyprus with updates through December 2024, available here; Phileleftheros, President: The examination of asylum applications in all cases of persons of Syrian origin is suspended, 13 April 2024, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/4aV5a8m.
[6] Information provided by Cyprus Refugee Council.
[7] Information provided by Cyprus Asylum Service.
[8] Information provided by Cyprus Refugee Council.
[9] Statelessness Index, Country Profile Cyprus, available at: http://bit.ly/2TMRKH2.