164 foreign inmates deported to relieve prison overcrowding

A total of 164 foreign nationals have been deported from detention centres and the central prisons in Cyprus between December 10 and January 20, according to a report released by the justice ministry on Wednesday.

Overall, 643 foreign nationals have left the country in a 45-day period. Including the 164 deported from prisons, there were 450 who departed under voluntary return programmes, and a further 29 individuals who were staying illegally in the republic and chose to leave of their own volition.