Terrorism uses Cyprus as a gateway to Europe

At least 17 migrants who were detained in Cyprus on suspicion of links to extremist groups or involvement in terrorism will be deported to their countries of origin, the country's Ministry of the Interior said in a statement released by Associated Press.  

According to the agency, intelligence sources, including Europol and Interpol, have been able to establish the involvement of these individuals in terrorist activities or their membership in extremist organizations. However, their names and nationalities have not yet been officially released, although Cypriot Minister of the Interior Nikos Nouris revealed in an interview with a local media on Tuesday that those arrested were "wanted men confirmed to be involved in terrorist organisations and to have links with Daesh".  

"The fact that the authorities have confirmed that they will be deported means that there is a country or countries to which they will be deported and that they are fairly decent, where we could even consider Syria and Libya... This gives us a clue that they could be from the Middle East," migration expert Óscar Ruiz Pérez told Atalayar. 

The agency has reported that the 17 arrested are currently in the Kofinou migrant detention centre in Larnaca, waiting for the deportation operation to begin once traffic between the borders is re-established - suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic - which is scheduled to happen on June 8. 

However, the local media Kathimerini warns that there could be other legal obstacles to returning individuals to their countries of origin. In February this year, the Supreme Court of Cyprus ordered the release of an asylum seeker of Moroccan origin after the state refused to hand over evidence accusing him of threatening national security and on suspicion of terrorism. The controversy in the country has also been lifted with the migration policy of arresting asylum-seekers who have pending cases or are in the process of submitting them, since they are transferred to the Pournara camp in Kokkinotrimithia, which is in poor health conditions.

Another case made public during the past year concerned a 32-year-old Syrian citizen whose name appeared in a database associated with terrorism in other countries fighting jointly to combat this phenomenon, although he was not on any watch list. The individual was arrested under a court order and was awaiting deportation, although no further details have since emerged. 

Before the closure of the Cypriot territory at the end of March, up to 3,000 asylum-seekers had managed to enter since the beginning of 2020, a figure which makes Cyprus one of the European Union countries with the highest rates of asylum applications per capita. Hence, in 2019, according to government figures, 34,000 applications were received, that is 3.8% of the country's population. 

The reason why Cyprus received so many migrants was primarily the physical ease of reaching its territory. "It's geographically very close to Turkey, which has a wide coastline from which a lot of migrants leave," Pérez explains, who believes that the country's "legal and geographical gaps [due to the internal dispute between the pro-Greek area in the south and the pro-Turkish area in the north]" also contribute to its attractiveness". 

As for the access routes to the EU island, the maritime route stands out, with 468 arrivals this year, and the air route, through Turkey and via the north of Cyprus - administered by the Eurasian nation -, a step prior to attempting to cross the porous "green line" between the north of Cyprus and the Greek-speaking Republic of Cyprus in the south of the island, according to Info Migrants. When asked about the role of Turkey, the migration expert argues that "one could not say that Ankara facilitates the entry of migrants - including terrorists - into EU territory, because it exercises tight control over its borders". "However, as in other countries such as Morocco or Libya, there is no such thing as absolute control, and migrants take advantage of any opportunity to achieve their goal," says Pérez. "Moreover, in the case of extremists who want to reach Europe for two reasons: either to make a direct attack or to escape - even if they later radicalise on EU territory and carry out violent actions - they always try to exploit the lack of control," he says.

"Cyprus is considered a low-risk destination for terrorists, but officials remain on high alert for suspects transiting to Europe who may pass through the island," the local daily Knews concludes.