The migration issue must be managed centrally by the EU, Deputy Minister of Migration and International Protection Nicholas Ioannides said on Wednesday, stressing that “together with support, synergies and collaborations we should all be able to manage this massive issue.”

In his statements to journalists, Ioannides, who participated on Wednesday in the Annual International Meeting of the Contact Committee, organised in Paphos by the Audit Office of the Republic of Cyprus, pointed out that in the context of the conference Nicosia was given the opportunity to present its views on migration to a pan-European audience.

The Audit Office of the Republic of Cyprus is organising the Annual Meeting of the Contact Committee, which it chairs, in Paphos, on Wednesday and Thursday.

Ioannides noted that, officials of the European Commission were participating in the conference, and that this was a good opportunity to present their views, as they had expressed them, he said, “also last week in Luxembourg in relation to how we think the migration issue should be managed.”

It was preferable, he added, that the issue was managed centrally by the European Union and that the member states receive support “in this difficult task of immigration management”, adding that no state alone can face this huge issue.

The Deputy Minister of Migration noted that the adoption of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum is “a positive development”, adding that it must function properly so that member states are not left to act unilaterally, and especially, small frontline states like Cyprus.

Asked about the decision regarding the removal of the barbed wire fence, that was erected some three years ago along the ceasefire line in the Nicosia district, Ioannides said that the Council of Ministers decided the removal of the barbed wire, since, operationally, did not contribute to stopping migrant flows from the occupied territories. He said that is process was “in the final stages”.

Auditor General Andreas Papakonstantinou said in his own statements that migration was a very sensitive issue both in terms of the economic and the humanitarian aspect. He added that there was willingness from all EU countries, but that different perceptions on some issues were evident.

Papakonstantinou said that the findings would be released on Thursday evening at the conclusion of the Annual International Meeting of the Contact Committee.

He said that during Wednesday’s event the European Commission and Audit Institutions will present their own experience in these matters.

As regards the management of the migration issue at EU level, the Auditor General said that this was a burning issue for Cyprus and Greece.

There are countries that are in the second line and that maybe, as he said, have some different priorities or see the issue differently. “This is why we are in the EU, to have a common policy, this is what we are trying to highlight, and this is also evident from the discussions we started today”, he concluded.

The Contact Committee is an autonomous, independent and non-political assembly of the Heads of the Supreme Audit Institutions of the EU Member States and of the European Court of Auditors, and meets every year.