Cyprus says more migrants departing than seeking asylum

Cyprus said Wednesday that for the first time in years the number of migrants it is repatriating has outpaced those seeking asylum on the eastern Mediterranean island.

The EU member state argues it is a "frontline" country in terms of migrant arrivals, with asylum-seekers now making up five percent of its population of 915,000, a record for the bloc.

Cyprus has over the past year accelerated efforts to repatriate illegal residents and rejected asylum seekers to multiple countries within and outside the European Union.

"For the first time, after many years, as a result of coordinated actions and measures, the total number of migrants who left Cyprus is greater than the total number of migrants who entered," the interior ministry said in a statement.

It said that 2,381 asylum applications were submitted between April and June, and that during the same quarter 2,714 migrants had departed Cyprus, either voluntarily or though deportations to their countries of origin.

Human rights groups have in recent years criticised Cyprus for squalid conditions in its main migrant reception camp, which has been badly overcrowded and rocked by violent clashes, and which is being upgraded with EU funding.

The interior ministry said one of its latest transfers took 51 asylum seekers to France through the EU's voluntary relocation programme, with the support of the EU Agency for Asylum and the International Organisation for Migration.

"There is a positive balance in the number of migrant departures from Cyprus compared to the number of inflows," said the ministry.

In June alone, 735 asylum applications were submitted, while 926 third-country nationals left Cyprus, said the ministry, without giving their nationalities.

"Transfers through this programme, aimed at supporting frontline member states with increased migration challenges, will continue in the coming period," it said.

The next flight is scheduled for July 19, with 40 people expected to be transferred to Norway.

Cyprus has been split since a 1974 Turkish invasion launched in response to a Greek-sponsored coup. The self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which covers the northern third of the island, is recognised only by Ankara.

Cyprus charges that many irregular migrants have arrived from the north across the UN-patrolled Green Line that divides the island.

It has long argued, with other EU Mediterranean states, that it needs more funding and political support from Brussels to tackle irregular migration.