Cyprus: France to help migration talks with African nations

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus’ interior minister says his French counterpart has agreed to help initiate talks with French-speaking African countries for a deal to take back their citizens whose asylum applications have been rejected. Interior Minister Nicos Nouris said Saturday that French counterpart Gerald Darmanin made the pledge during a visit. Nouris said “the overwhelming majority” of migrants who arrived at ethnically split Cyprus in the last year hail from sub-Saharan African countries. Nouris said 15,000 migrants who have had their asylum applications rejected can’t be deported from Cyprus because of the lack of any European Union send-back agreements with their countries.