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Cyprus PIO: News Update in English, 03-10-21
From: The Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office Server at <http://www.pio.gov.cy/>
[01]Tuesday, 21 October 2003 Cyprus hosts first Euro-Mediterranean Forum on
Migration
[01] Cyprus hosts first Euro-Mediterranean Forum on Migration
The first Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Forum on Migration opened its
sessions yesterday in Limassol. The three-day Forum is organised by the
House of Representatives and the Refugees and Population Committee of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). Addressing the
Forum, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr Georgios Iacovou made extensive
reference to the issue of Turkish settlers, saying they were not immigrants
but part of an organised plan by Turkey to alter the island's demographic
structure, in violation of the Geneva Convention of 1949. Mr Iacovou
further pointed out that in the past few weeks the occupation regime had
intensified its illegal policy of granting settlers from Turkey the so-
called citizenship of the pseudostate, in light of the forthcoming
"parliamentary elections". "In particular, according to the Turkish Cypriot
press and the opposition parties, the so-called citizenship is granted
illegally to approximately 350 settlers on a daily basis", Mr Iacovou
stressed and called upon the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe, and the EU, to proceed as soon as possible with the Assembly's
recommendation for a census of the entire population of Cyprus.
Referring to illegal immigration, the Foreign Minister said that the Cyprus
Government was deeply committed in combating the phenomenon and was making
efforts to deal with the problem effectively within the framework of EU
decisions. The Forum was also addressed by the President of PACE's Refugee
and Population Committee, Mr Tadeusz Iwinski, who underlined the great
significance of the event and said it was the first time that the Committee
was holding a conference on immigration with such a large number of
participants. Mr Iwinski further noted that Cyprus, as an EU member state,
was in a position to play an important role in implementing EU policy on
migration. The Head of the Cyprus delegation to PACE, MP Mr Christos
Pourgourides, made particular reference during his address to the issue of
forced migration of Turkish Cypriots living in the occupied part of Cyprus.
He said Turkish Cypriots were compelled to emigrate due to the bad living
conditions prevailing in the north and the privileged treatment of Turkish
settlers by the occupation regime against Turkish Cypriots.
Mr Pourgourides expressed hope that PACE's Recommendation 1608 (2003) on
the colonisation of the occupied areas of Cyprus by Turkish settlers would
soon be implemented. In his opening statements before the Forum, the
Coordinator for Cyprus' Harmonisation with the EU, Mr Takis Hadjidemetriou,
referred to the impact of Cyprus' accession to the EU on the issue of
migration in the eastern Mediterranean and said that "by accession Cyprus
would become the south eastern border of the EU and by 2006-2007 the
Schengen border of the eastern Mediterranean region".
"This is a heavy and costly burden Cyprus has to bear which can be
successfully concluded with the cooperation of states of the region", Mr
Hadjidemetriou said, adding that, in return, the nationals of the
neighbouring countries could benefit from Cyprus' EU accession "by having a
nearby country to access the Schengen area and move freely to the rest of
the Schengen states of Europe".
From the Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office (PIO) Server at http://www.pio.gov.cy/
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