Migration is high on Cyprus’ EU Council presidency agenda ahead of the official launch of the New Pact on Migration & Asylum in June.
Arguably, the country’s geographical position and small size make it a powerful case study for the broader challenges of EU migration and asylum governance, as this analysis of Med5 and EU-27 data makes clear. While absolute numbers of first-time asylum applications remain modest relative to larger member states, Cyprus’ high per capita rates in asylum applications and temporary protection beneficiaries – coupled with strong returns performance and increased vulnerability to regional developments that can trigger mass displacement – reveal pressures on reception, processing, and integration capacities that call for shared responsibility and solidarity.
Understanding the real scale of such dynamics is crucial for the development of better, sustainable policies, that are both effective for states and fair for the people they affect.
The Migration & Asylum Data Hub for Cyprus is MedMA’s contribution to that effort, designed to equip policymakers, researchers, and civil society to move toward evidence-based solutions.
MedMA’s Migration & Asylum Data Hub for Cyprus provides researchers, journalists, civil society, policymakers, and the wider public with migration and asylum-related statistics. The hub aims to enhance public awareness and support evidence-based policy discussions in an evolving migration landscape.
The hub is a centralised, structured digital platform that consolidates official, publicly available data from both national and EU sources. Designed to be user-friendly, it presents information in a clear format and highlights trends over time.
By highlighting both challenges and opportunities, the Hub supports a more balanced, sustainable migration approach for Cyprus, the Med5, and the EU as a whole.
Find out more: https://med-ma.eu/themes/data-analysis/launch-of-the-migration-and-asylum-data-hub-for-cyprus/
About MedMa
MedMA reshapes Mediterranean migration policy by positioning human mobility as a driver of social cohesion, economic development, and deeper regional integration.
The Mediterranean Migration and Asylum Policy Hub (MedMA) was launched in 2022 to advance an evidence-based Mediterranean perspective, rooted in the experience of frontline countries. MedMA brings together expertise from research, public administration, and civil society, bridging migration debates within the EU with on‑the‑ground realities and evolving regional dynamics in the wider neighbourhood, from the Western Balkans and the Black Sea to the MENA region.
MedMA is an agency of the European Public Law Organization (EPLO), an intergovernmental organization with 17 member states. The EPLO holds observer status at the United Nations General Assembly, the International Organization for Migration and the International Labour Organization. MedMA builds on the EPLO’s institutional status to convene diverse actors and inform regional and global debates.
MedMA operates from offices in Athens and Nicosia and works with experts based across the Mediterranean region.