Cyprus streamlines migrant returns with EU help

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus says the European Union and it’s border agency Frontex have helped the east Mediterranean island nation streamline its procedures to return migrants after having their asylum applications rejected amid soaring numbers of arrivals. The Standard Operation Procedures for Returns will be “continuously tested” during voluntary and forced returns over the next few months to identify and fix any problems. Interior Minister Nicos Nouris told reporters after talks Tuesday with a top EU migration official that Cyprus saw 1,335 new asylum applications in January — more the double the number from two years ago. Most of those who applied for asylum had entered Cyprus from the breakaway north of the ethnically divided island.