Cypriots need £149 for benefits

UK government introduces new minimum salary for European migrants seeking to claim benefits

Iain Duncan Smith, work and pensions secretary

CYPRIOT migrants to Britain will have to prove they earn at least £149 per week before they can claim benefits.

The minimum earnings threshold, which will come into force on 1 March, was announced by David Cameron last year.

It is the latest in a series of government measures to crack down on migration and will apply to nationals from all European Economic Area countries, including the Republic of Cyprus.

The measures do not affect citizens from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus or Turkey, as European immigration law has never applied to these countries.

Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary, told Reuters: “the British public are rightly concerned that migrants should contribute to this country, and not be drawn here by the attractiveness of our benefits system.”

European migrants are already unable to claim welfare benefits as soon as they arrive in Britain. From April this year, they will not be able to apply for housing benefit either.

“These reforms will ensure we have a fair system – one which provides support for genuine workers and jobseekers, but does not allow people to come to our country and take advantage of our benefits system,” Mr Duncan Smith.