After authorities from EU member state Cyprus refused to let a migrant boat dock due to the corona crisis, police in the northern part of the island, which is under Turkish control, said they rescued over 170 migrants a day later. Ethnically divided Cyprus, split by a demarcation line not recognized as a border, has become a popular destination for migrants in recent years.
Divided Cyprus, split by a demarcation line not recognized as a border, has become a popular destination for migrants in recent years. Now, the government has introduced a series of measures to curtail the number of arrivals. Separately, it closed four of nine border crossing points with the northern part of the island over coronavirus fears last week.
The experience of an Italian family that took six migrants into their home has inspired the EU-funded project Embracin. Their reception model will be replicated in six EU countries.
The European Asylum Support Office (EASO) will deploy up to 2,000 personnel to Greece, Cyprus, Italy and Malta in 2020 to support national authorities with asylum and reception. While support to Greece will double compared to 2019, support to Italy will be decreased as the country faces less workload within first instance asylum procedures.
Eurostat said the EU has experienced a 12% increase in first asylum requests in the third quarter of 2019 - compared to numbers from the previous quarter. For the first time, asylum seekers from Venezuela are in the top three of nationalities submitting asylum requests.
Cyprus will harden its border with the Turkish-controlled northern part of the island known as the Green Line. The move is intended to stop people from crossing into the south to claim asylum there.
The migrants were travelling in an overcrowded boat. They were towed ashore Monday. According to Cyprus police, most of them were from Syria. Two Syrian men suspected of people smuggling were arrested.
Amnesty International reported at the weekend that Ahmed H., a Syrian man who spent four years in Hungarian prisons after being “unjustly convicted” of terrorism charges, has finally been allowed to return to his wife and family in Cyprus.
Cyprus desperately needs the EU's assistance to deal with the influx of migrants. Those already there are facing atrocious conditions while they wait for their applications to be processed.
Cyprus has submitted a request for EU member states to take over 5,000 migrants and refugees, as the number of people seeking asylum and protection is quickly rising in the island nation. It has also criticized Turkey in particular for not taking appropriate action.
Cyprus, a peaceful island in the middle of an unstable region and split by a demarcation line not recognized as a border, is seeing rising numbers of migrants entering the island to gain access to the Greek-speaking southern part of the island which is an EU member state. The island’s proximity to Turkey and Lebanon is leading smugglers to offer risky crossings to Syrians.
This is the story of Ahmed H., a Syrian man living in Cyprus since 2006 and married to a Cypriot national. He has two Cypriot-national daughters. Since 2015 he has been detained in Hungary. Now Amnesty International is trying to convince the Cypriot authorities to allow Ahmed to return home.