In a new submission, the Global Detention Project has urged the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to demand that Cyprus end its harmful migrant detention policies–which include the continued use of police holding cells; arbitrary and de facto detention in Pournara Reception Centre; and prison-like detention conditions in Menoyia Detention Centre. The submission highlights, in particular, the Committee’s Joint General Recommendation No.39 (no.8 with the UN Committee on Migrant Workers), which notes that:
“The Committees recall that immigration detention is always harmful and disproportionate as an interim measure during administrative procedures or in response to an administrative irregularity or infraction. The Committees strongly recommend that States Parties take all appropriate measures without delay to progressively abolish migration-related detention policies and practices.”
For many years, Cyprus has had the largest number of asylum applications per capita across the EU: in 2023, approximately 13,000 applications were lodged per 1 million inhabitants–compared to less than 130 per 1 million inhabitants in Hungary, Slovakia, and Czechia. While irregular arrival numbers have decreased more recently–largely the result of the fall of the Assad regime and the drop in numbers of Syrian refugees–in 2025 the European Commission’s Annual Asylum and Migration Report nevertheless described the country as one facing “migratory pressure.”
In response, authorities have stepped up their efforts to return non-nationals to their countries of origin: from 9,699 (forced and voluntary) returns in 2023, to 11,400 in 2025. According to the European Commission, amongst EU Members States, Cyprus issued the most orders to leave relative to its GDP and population between July 2024 and June 2025.
To enable increased returns, the country has introduced various legislative changes. In December 2025, it passed a new bill amending the Refugee Law, which provides that persons granted asylum in Cyprus will lose their protection status if they commit crimes–making it easier for authorities to remove them from the country. In January 2026, it also approved an amendment to the Law on the Establishment and Operation of the Administrative Court for International Protection, reducing the time limits for appeals against rejected asylum applications, from 30 to 20 days. Also in January, the Administrative Court of International Protection issued a series of judgements in which it upheld the rejection of several Syrians’ asylum claims, ruling that the applicants no longer fulfilled the requirements of the Refugee Law or the Geneva Convention in light of recent developments in Syria. The Court’s rulings enable authorities to proceed with the applicants’ forced removals, and paves the way for future removals. (UNHCR, however, continues to advise against forced returns to Syria.)
Cyprus’ emphasis on increasing returns has been accompanied by continuing reliance upon immigration detention. The country operates one dedicated immigration detention facility–the Menoyia Immigration Detention Centre in Larnaca District–as well as short term holding facilities in Larnaca and Paphos Airports.
As of March 2026, authorities are in the process of opening a new pre-removal facility, the Limnes Migrant Centre, near to Menoyia. According to reports, the facility will be composed of both accommodation units for asylum seekers, as well as a closed detention facility–with the site intended to replace Menoyia (which will instead be used as a criminal facility). Work began on the facility in 2023, with funding from the EU’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, and in February 2026 local media reported that the first phase had been completed, with the final phase due for completion in September 2026.
As well as facilities dedicated to the detention of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, non-nationals are also held in police holding cells, and continue to be de facto detained at the Pournara Reception Centre, which functions as an ad hoc detention facility.
