Located at the crossroads of three continents, Cyprus has one of the highest per capita rates of first-time asylum seekers in the EU and has been struggling with a surge in irregular migration in recent years.

Under a voluntary EU burden-sharing scheme, Cyprus last December started allocating small numbers of asylum seekers to other member states which signed up to offer assistance, including France, Germany, Bulgaria and Romania.

Refugee resettlement aims to provide a pathway to safety within an internationally-agreed framework. Some countries voluntarily agree to welcome recognized refugees who have already fled their countries of origin and are not able to receive the necessary support in their host countries.

The majority (76%) of refugees worldwide are hosted by low-income and middle-income countries. Resettlement is one of the few safe ways for refugees to come to Europe.

Currently around two million refugees are estimated to be in need of resettlement. Last year, only 114,300 (7%) refugees were resettled globally. EU countries resettled 16,695 refugees -- around 1% of global resettlement needs. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) argues that these numbers fall below the bloc's potential capacity.

Also read: Report accuses EU of 'staggering neglect' of Afghan asylum seekers

Limiting access to resettlement to deter migration

Authorities said that limiting an individual's access to the resettlement program would act as a deterrent to future arrivals. It would apply to people seeking international protection who arrived in Cyprus from January 2023.

"The purpose of this policy is to ensure that the resettlement programme is not attracting nationals of specific countries who, possibly abusing the system, are using Cyprus as a transit to other EU member states," the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

According to the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR, Cyprus received 4,828 new asylum applications until May of this year, compared to 21,565 for the whole of 2022.

Earlier this year, the EU promised to step up its rate of returns for migrants and asylum seekers who have been refused the right to stay in the bloc.

While 2023 arrivals were down, there has been a recent rise in arrivals from Syria by sea, the Interior Ministry said. The IRC has stated that Syrian refugees have the highest global resettlement needs, followed by refugees from Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan and Myanmar.

Also read: Germany to take in up to 900 additional refugees from Cyprus

With Reuters