The Council of Ministers approved a request by the government of Lebanon to provide humanitarian aid, Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis said after the Cabinet meeting today, explaining that the request was made through the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Cyprus for the provision of pharmaceutical aid and consumables.

The assistance will be rolled out by the Ministry of Health in the immediate future, he added.

Referring to the national plan "Estia" for the repatriation of foreign nationals through Cyprus, the Spokesperson said that the Republic of Cyprus continues to play its role in relation to the crisis in the region. To date, he said, more than 2,000 citizens from 20 countries have arrived in Cyprus and this was made possible thanks to the cooperation with 7 countries. A total of 76 Cypriot citizens have been repatriated, he continued, adding that the vast majority of foreign nationals who arrived in Cyprus have now departed.

All measures have been taken, he said in response to a question, so that as many foreign citizens as possible can use the "Estia" plan to repatriate. He added that measures have been taken to enable, if necessary, up to 7,000 people to stay overnight in Cyprus for one night, noting that most of them stay in Cyprus for a few hours or even for a single night.

We have the experience of 2006, he said, stressing that "we are able to cope and we will cope".

Regarding the European Court of Human Rights decision, the Government Spokesperson said this concerns a case of 2020 and is being studied, reiterating that from the first day the government took office, the effective management of migration has always been within the framework of international and European law and international legitimacy.

Asked if there are pushbacks, Letymbiotis said that "there are not", adding that this has been stressed repeatedly and has been answered, while “the effective management of migration by our country has been welcomed many times by all relevant bodies."

Responding to another question on the flow of migrants due to the conditions in the region, the Spokesperson said that the government is monitoring all developments and if the need arises the "Nafkratis" plan will be activated. The measures taken, he said, are constantly being evaluated, adding that Cyprus' capabilities to cope are specific given its size and proximity to the region. For the moment we are at a point where we can manage the situation, he noted.

In response to a remark that a number of migrants are still in the buffer zone and are not able to apply for political asylum in the Republic of Cyprus, Letymbiotis said we need to look at the root cause and why they are there.

“They have come from a country that is considered safe and we will have to look at the root causes of the migration issue at the European level as well”, he stressed.