Cyprus: More than 500 migrants rescued over weekend

On Tuesday (April 2), the English version of Greek-language newspaper Kathimerini reported that more than 500 migrants arrived on Cyprus within the last 48 hours. Two boats carrying a total of 68 migrants arrived overnight between Monday and Tuesday, reported the news source. 67 of those arrivals came from Syria and one person was reported to have originated from Bangladesh.

The first vessel, reported Kathimerini, was found by the Cypriot authorities at just past midnight. This included 25 men, five women, six children and seven unaccompanied minors. A second boat was intercepted at around 2:30 a.m. carrying 25 people, including 16 men, one woman, two children and six unaccompanied minors.

The two boats, reported Kathimerini, are thought to have left Lebanon before being found off the Cape Greco area of the island.

Multiple boats carrying migrants arrive

On Sunday (March 31), the Cyprus coast guard said it had brought in 120 migrants on two small boats off the east coast of the island. Later that day, it reported the arrivals of three additional boats, one of which, reported the German press agency dpa, had 179 people on board.

Also read: Child dies after drifting in Mediterranean for days

On Monday (April 1), three more vessels were detected, carrying approximately 137 migrants, reported Kathimerini.

The migrants, stated dpa, were taken to reception centers west of the Republic of Cyprus’ capital Nicosia. The authorities detained four people they suspected of smuggling the migrants toward the eastern Mediterranean island.

According to figures from UN Refugee Agency UNHCR, more than 2,600 migrants have arrived in Cyprus since the beginning of the year. That’s an average of about 30 people per day.

Leaving Lebanon

Many of the migrants arriving in Cyprus are now setting off by sea from the coasts of Lebanon and sometimes Syria. Others fly in to mainland Turkey and then transfer visa-free to the northern part of Cyprus, a state recognized only by Turkey. Later they cross the buffer zone separating the two parts of the island, the Turkish-occupied north and the EU-member southern part.

The concentration of arrivals in the last 48 hours, reported Kathimerini, prompted President Christodoulides to convene an emergency meeting of the country’s National Security Council at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday.

Also read: Cyprus turn tide on migrant arrival trend

According to Cyprus state broadcaster Radio 3, measures Cyprus could take in collaboration with the European Union in order to “stem the flow of migrants” were discussed at the meeting.

Although far greater numbers of migrants arrive in Greece, Spain and Italy, Cyprus’ tiny population has marked it the EU member state with the highest number of asylum applications per capita in recent years, according to EU statistics.

Establishing ‘safe zones’ in Syria

The Cypriot government has stood behind several EU proposals recently regarding migration, including establishing safe zones in Syria that would allow for Syrian refugees to be repatriated. Towards the end of March, Cypriot Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou said it’s the “conviction of several states that the time has come to collectively dare,” reported the news agency Associated Press (AP).

Ioannou and his supporters are thought to be worried about how migration due to the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza may spread to Lebanon and other Middle Eastern states.

Economic and political problems in the region are pushing more and more people to try and leave for Europe in search of a better life and a modicum of safety.

Also read: Mediterranean countries agree to take hard line stance on migration

The Cypriot government also recently announced that it has set up a special unit charged with breaking up people smuggling rings said to be responsible for bringing Syrian migrants to Cyprus, reported AP.

Cyprus calls on Frontex to increase patrols

Cyprus has also called on the EU and the European border agency Frontex to help increase patrols along the bloc’s south-eastern maritime border in order to try and prevent migrants from arriving on the small island nation.

Overall, the numbers of migrants arriving in Cyprus are down, but the numbers of Syrian nationals arriving have once again increased, reported AP.

Around the same time Ioannou met with EU Commissioner Margaritis Schinas in late March, the Commissioner announced the EU was hoping to strike a migrant deal with Lebanon along the same lines as its recent agreement with Egypt.

EU deal with Lebanon planned

Schinas said the EU hopes a deal with Lebanon would help stem the arrivals of migrants in countries like Cyprus, Reuters reports. “We had worked with Egypt for quite some time, but I consider that it’s absolutely realistic to move in a corresponding manner with Lebanon,” stated Schinas during a visit to Cyprus on March 22.

Also read: Migrants targeted in Cyprus in spate of racist violence

Cyprus is located just 160 kilometers west of the coasts of Syria and Lebanon. Some of the Syrian nationals arriving recently in Cyprus set off from Syria, but others were already displaced in Lebanon before they decided to make the voyage.

The Lebanese authorities, under economic and political pressure, have been accused of discrimination against the populations of displaced people hosted within its borders, often appearing to operate a second class system for non-Lebanese nationals.

Cyprus ‘facing asphysxiating pressure’

Ioannou said his country was “facing asphyxiating pressure because of the large number of Syrians arriving in Cyprus,” reported Reuters. According to the Cyprus Mail, government spokesperson Konstantino Letymbiotis said the country was at its “breaking point.”

“What matters is that solidarity is shown at EU level,” Letymbiotis told the Cyprus Mail. He said his country “cannot go on at this pace [of migration],” and didn’t rule out an additional NSC meeting if needed.

The spokesperson told the Cyprus Mail that his country was in touch with the Lebanese authorities and would be asking them to help “cut off the increased migration flows observed in the past few days.”