The Cypriot interior minister said on Tuesday that the EU and its border agency Frontex have helped to streamline procedures to return rejected asylum seekers. The number of people arriving on the island nation lately has been soaring.
A new independent body, the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA), will safeguard those applying for protection in Europe against rights violations. It also aims to make asylum standards more consistent across the Member States.
Citizens of Afghanistan were by far the biggest group of people applying for asylum in the EU, Switzerland and Norway in September 2021.
The European Union Agency for Asylum is intended to make the bloc's asylum procedures more efficient and uniform.
Asylum applications in the European Union dropped by 31% last year and fell to a record low. The European Asylum Support Office (EASO) attributed the decline mainly to coronavirus-related travel restrictions.
A spokesperson for the interior ministry in Malta denies that it has received reports of physical abuse of migrants in detention centers, according to a local activist. Meanwhile a row has erupted over claims that migrants have been attempting suicide in order to draw attention to themselves.