According to the Minister of Interior, Neoclis Sylikiotis, there are currently in Cyprus 120000 registered EU immigrants, 68000 political refugees and 58000 registered workers from third countries. The number of non-Cypriot EU citizens in Cyprus increased tremendously after the accession of Romania and Bulgaria into the EU.

The minister also made statements about a National Plan of Action for the Integration of Immigrants which is developed with input from local authorities, trade unions, employers’ organizations and other concerned organizations. ”Only with the integration of immigrants will be able to maintain social cohesion and to move to the rational exploitation of this human resource development of our country,”said Sylikiotis, ‘adding that immigrants have contributed greatly economic growth seen in our country in recent years.”