Cyprus offers Syrian families money to resettle and work permits for main earners

Cyprus offers Syrian families money to resettle and work permits for main earners
Cyprus’ deputy minister for migration Nicholas Ioannides, 2nd lt, explains how a new voluntary repatriation program for Syrian families will work, Nicosia, Cyprus, Thursday, May 29, 2025. (AP Photo)
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Updated 29 May 2025
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Cyprus offers Syrian families money to resettle and work permits for main earners

Cyprus offers Syrian families money to resettle and work permits for main earners
  • Ioannides said that families wishing to voluntarily return will be given a one-off sum of 2,000 euros ($2,255) for one adult and 1,000 euros ($1,128) for each child
  • Family’s main income earner will be granted a special residency and work permit allowing them to stay for a minimum of two years in Cyprus with the option of another year

NICOSIA: Cyprus will offer Syrian families money to help them resettle back in their homeland and allow the main income earners to remain on the island nation for up to three years to work as part of a voluntary repatriation program, a Cypriot minister said Thursday.

Deputy Minister for Migration Nicholas Ioannides said that a prerequisite for families to qualify for the program is that they must drop their claims for asylum or rescind international protection status already granted to them prior to Dec. 31, 2024.

Unveiling the program, Ioannides said that families wishing to voluntarily return will be given a one-off sum of 2,000 euros ($2,255) for one adult and 1,000 euros ($1,128) for each child. Childless couples are also eligible to apply. The application period runs from June 2 to Aug. 31.

Additionally, the family’s main income earner — either the father or mother will be granted a special residency and work permit allowing them to stay for a minimum of two years in Cyprus with the option of another year.

Ioannides said that many Syrians have expressed their willingness to return and help rebuild their country, but are reluctant to do so because of the uncertainty surrounding where they’ll be able to earn a living wage.

According to the head of Cyprus’ Asylum Service Andreas Georgiades, the program’s premise is to help families overcome any such reluctance by affording them a modest nest egg with which to cover their immediate needs while enabling the main income earner to continue working and sending money to his family.

The income earner will be allowed to travel back and forth to Syria while his or her residency and work permit are valid.
Syrian nationals make up the largest group of asylum-seekers in Cyprus by far. According to Asylum Service figures, 4,226 Syrians applied for asylum last year — almost 10 times more than Afghans who are the second-largest group.

“This new program is a targeted, humanitarian and realistic policy that bolsters Syria’s post-war transition to normality,” Ioannides said, adding that European Home Affairs Commissioner Magnus Brunner considers the program as a potential example for other European Union member countries to follow.

Meanwhile, Ioannides repeated that a 2009 Search and Rescue agreement that Cyprus has with Syria enables Cypriot authorities to send back boatloads of Syrian migrants trying to reach the island nation after they’re rescued in international waters.

Ioannides said that two inflatable boats each loaded with 30 Syrian migrants were turned back in line with the bilateral agreement after being rescued when they transmitted that they were in danger.

Ioannides again denied Cyprus engages in any pushbacks, despite urgings from both the UN refugee agency and Europe’s top human rights body to stop pushing back migrants trying to reach the island by boat.


One killed as Iraqi Kurds protest power cuts

One killed as Iraqi Kurds protest power cuts
Updated 16 sec ago
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One killed as Iraqi Kurds protest power cuts

One killed as Iraqi Kurds protest power cuts
IRBIL: A man was killed in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region late Sunday during protests against power cuts, residents and a medical source told AFP.
Residents in the Rawandz region, northeast of Kurdistan’s capital Irbil, said protesters had taken to the streets and blocked a main highway leading to a border crossing with Iran.
Security forces intervened to open the road, leading to clashes, they said, with the demonstrations ending shortly after.
A source at the area’s Ashti hospital said “the body of a man who was killed by gunshot arrived at the hospital,” with locals saying he was involved in the protests.
The circumstances around the shooting were not immediately known, but a protester told AFP that “security forces shot” his relative, a 45-year-old father of 10.
The region’s interior ministry also said on Monday that “clashes during the protest” had resulted in one civilian death, adding it would launch a probe into the incident.
The northern region of Kurdistan has long promoted itself as a haven of relative stability in an otherwise volatile Iraq.
Last week, regional authorities announced that more than 30 percent of the Kurdistan region now had 24-hour, state-provided electricity.
However, vast areas still suffer from long power cuts, forcing many households to rely on private generators.
Despite Iraq’s abundant oil and gas reserves, years of conflict have devastated its infrastructure.
The national grid struggles to meet demand, leaving most areas reliant on imported energy — mostly from neighboring Iran — and subject to frequent power cuts, especially during the blistering summer.

Syria government forces take over Druze village in south

Syria government forces take over Druze village in south
Updated 45 min 21 sec ago
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Syria government forces take over Druze village in south

Syria government forces take over Druze village in south
  • Forces under the Syrian defense ministry deployed in Al-Mazraa village, where Bedouin fighters were also located

AL-MAZRA’AH: Syrian government forces were advancing toward the southern city of Sweida on Monday after taking control of a Druze village nearby, an AFP correspondent said, on the second day of sectarian clashes there.
Security forces were deployed in Sweida province following clashes between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes that killed at least 89 people since Sunday.
The AFP correspondent saw forces under the Syrian defense ministry deployed in Al-Mazraa village, where Bedouin fighters were also located. The forces continued to advance in the direction of Sweida city.
A commander, Ezzeddine Al-Shamayer, told AFP the forces “are heading toward Sweida.”
The Israeli army said on Monday that it struck several tanks between the villages of Al-Mazraa and Sami that were heading to Sweida.
It added that it would not allow “the establishment of a military threat in southern Syria and will operate against it.”
Druze spiritual leaders called for calm and urged Damascus to intervene.
But Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri, one of the three Druze spiritual leaders in Sweida, expressed his “rejection of the entry” of general security forces into the province, demanding “international protection.”
The fighting underscores the challenges facing interim Syrian leader Ahmad Al-Sharaa, whose Islamist forces ousted president Bashar Assad in December.


Leaders of Holy Land churches condemn Israeli settler violence during a West Bank visit

Leaders of Holy Land churches condemn Israeli settler violence during a West Bank visit
Updated 14 July 2025
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Leaders of Holy Land churches condemn Israeli settler violence during a West Bank visit

Leaders of Holy Land churches condemn Israeli settler violence during a West Bank visit
  • The patriarchs and heads of churches in Jerusalem called for the settlers to be held accountable by the Israeli authorities
  • The Christian community in Israel and the Palestinian territories has dwindled as a percentage of the overall population over the decades

TAYBEH, West Bank: Top church leaders in the Holy Land asserted Monday that Israeli authorities “facilitate and enable” the presence of Israeli settlers who have intensified attacks in recent weeks on the only entirely Christian Palestinian village remaining in the occupied West Bank.
Speaking in the village, Taybeh, on a rare solidarity visit, Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III and Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa denounced an incident last week when settlers set fires near the community’s church. They said that Israeli authorities failed to respond to emergency calls for help from the Palestinian community.
In a separate statement, the patriarchs and heads of churches in Jerusalem demanded an investigation into the incident and called for the settlers to be held accountable by the Israeli authorities, “who facilitate and enable their presence around Taybeh.”
The church leaders also said that settlers had brought their cattle to graze on Palestinian lands in the area, set fire to several homes last month and put up a sign reading “there is no future for you here.”
Israel’s military did not immediately respond to the allegations.
Pizzaballa, the top Catholic cleric in Jerusalem, said he believed the West Bank was becoming a lawless area.
“The only law (in the West Bank) is that of power, of those who have the force, not the law. We must work for the law to return to this part of the country, so anyone can appeal to the law to enforce their rights,” Pizzaballa told reporters.
He and Theophilos prayed together in the church of St. George, whose religious site dates back centuries, adjacent to the area where settlers ignited the fires.
The statement from the heads of churches comes as Palestinians report a surge of settler violence. On Sunday, hundreds descended on the village of Al-Mazraa a-Sharqiya, south of Taybeh, for the funeral of two young men killed during a settler attack on Friday.
The Christian community in Israel and the Palestinian territories has dwindled as a percentage of the overall population over the decades, with experts citing lower birthrates and emigration by people fleeing conflict or seeking better opportunities abroad. Christians now make up a tiny percentage of the population.


Jordanian Armed Forces’ Piercing Star exercise improves skills in eastern region

Jordanian Armed Forces’ Piercing Star exercise improves skills in eastern region
Updated 14 July 2025
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Jordanian Armed Forces’ Piercing Star exercise improves skills in eastern region

Jordanian Armed Forces’ Piercing Star exercise improves skills in eastern region
  • Tactical drill involved acquisition, neutralization of targets, medical evacuation, using unmanned aerial systems
  • Princess Basma Battalion is subordinate unit of the Eastern Military Region, includes units from Ar-Ramtha, Mafraq near Iraqi, Syrian borders

LONDON: Maj. Gen. Yousef Ahmed Al-Huneiti, the chairman of the Jordanian Joint Chiefs of Staff, oversaw a tactical exercise on Sunday as part of military drills by the Princess Basma 3rd Mechanized Infantry Battalion.

The Piercing Star drill was designed to improve personnel’s skills and capabilities in various field conditions, the Jordan News Agency reported.

It involved the acquisition and neutralization of targets, medical evacuation procedures, and the use of unmanned aerial systems for reconnaissance and the destruction of high-value targets, Petra added.

Princess Basma Battalion is a subordinate unit of the Eastern Military Region, comprising units from the cities of Ar-Ramtha and Mafraq near the Iraqi and Syrian borders. It employed small arms, crew-served weapons, sniper fire, mortar, anti-armor ordnance, and close air support from the Royal Jordanian Air Force during the drill.

Al-Huneiti received a briefing from the regional commander and the battalion commander regarding the military exercise, which was also attended by the assistant for operations and training in the armed forces.


Palestinian president says Hamas must hand over weapons in Gaza

Palestinian president says Hamas must hand over weapons in Gaza
Updated 14 July 2025
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Palestinian president says Hamas must hand over weapons in Gaza

Palestinian president says Hamas must hand over weapons in Gaza
  • Mahmoud Abbas said Hamas must recognize that there should be ‘one system, one law, and one legitimate weapon’
  • Hamas has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007 after armed clashes with PA forces, which resulted in the deaths of nearly 700 Palestinians

LONDON: The Palestinian Authority’s President Mahmoud Abbas reaffirmed that Hamas will not take part in governing the coastal enclave of the post-war Gaza Strip during a meeting with former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair in Amman.

Abbas said Hamas must surrender its weapons to the PA and participate in political actions aligned with the principles of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Neither Hamas nor Islamic Jihad is part of the PLO, and both groups have long rejected calls to join what Palestinians consider their sole political representative since the 1960s.

Abbas said that Hamas must recognize that in the Palestinian territories, there should be “one system, one law, and one legitimate weapon,” during his meeting on Sunday evening with Blair, who served as the special envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East from 2007 to 2015.

Hamas has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007 after armed clashes with PA forces, which resulted in the deaths of nearly 700 Palestinians, according to an official tally. Since then, it has engaged in several conflicts with Israel, the most recent being the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, which resulted in the deaths and abduction of several hundred people and prompted an ongoing Israeli war on Gaza, which has killed over 58,000 Palestinians.

Abbas called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, and the flow of humanitarian aid.

He stressed the need for a two-state solution and the importance of the French-Saudi-sponsored conference, scheduled for the end of July in New York, to gain support for establishing a Palestinian state.