On 23 January 2024 the Grant Agreement was signed between the European Funds Unit of the Ministry of Interior, as the Managing Authority of the Home Affairs Funds, and the Asylum Service, as the Beneficiary, for the co-funding of the project titled “Support to the Asylum Service with Personnel”.

The main objective of the project is to provide personnel to the Asylum Service to deal with the increased number of applications for international protection. Due to the sudden increase in the number of applications for international protection and the subsequent pressure on the asylum and reception process systems, there is a need to maintain the support to the Asylum Service with personnel, aiming at the most efficient processing of the said applications so as to combat the abuse of asylum processes and facilitate the provision of international protection to eligible applicants. Taking into consideration the continuously rising trend in the submission of requests for international protection and consequently the increase in the number of pending applications, there is a need to employ fixed-term personnel at the Asylum Service.

The project is implemented within the framework of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, and it is co-funded by the European Union and the Republic of Cyprus, with a total budget of €6,616,831.94. The period of implementation of the project is: 1/7/2022 - 30/06/2025.