NICOSIA, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus has decided to introduce a series of new measures to contain the influx of unregulated immigrants arriving from Turkey, Interior Minister Nikos Nouris said on Tuesday.
The new measures include a massive boost to resources and manpower, as well as tighter checks to weed out fakers, said Nouris.
Noting that asylum applications have skyrocketed over the past week, Nouris said there are currently 33,000 asylum seekers on the island.
According to numbers announced by authorities in recent days, about 1,000 unregulated migrants have arrived in Cyprus this year, mostly by flying to the Turkish controlled part of Cyprus and then crossing over the buffer zone.
"Police and the military will increase patrols along the Green Line," Nouris said. The Green Line, dividing Cyprus into Greek and Turkish Cypriot parts, is the main point of entry for irregular migrants.
President Nicos Anastasiades has requested financial assistance from the EU for the 2020-2021 period to cover the costs of additional infrastructures for migrants, as well as for the purchase of equipment monitoring the coastline and the Green Line, such as ships and vehicles, Nouris said.
