CYPRUS: Police bring 28 migrants in drifting boat safely to shore

Cyprus marine police rescued 28 irregular migrants after they were spotted on a drifting boat off the coast of Protaras and safely brought them to shore, authorities said on Thursday.

---

Cypriot police said a boat crowded with people was spotted by a patrol vessel in open seas and a rescue operation was launched soon after to escort the boat to a nearby fishing shelter.

The 28 migrants – from Syria and Lebanon – were being processed by emergency services on Thursday before being transferred to a reception centre outside the capital Nicosia.

Among the group containing families were nine children and five women.

Cyprus has warned Brussels it has come under pressure from increased irregular migration flows ranking it top in first-time asylum claims in relation to its population of under a million.

In August Cyprus requested fellow EU member states to accept for relocation 5000 of its migrants to significantly alleviate the “disproportionate pressures and severe challenges” faced by the country.

Cypriot Interior Minister Constantinos Petrides said Nicosia has yet to receive any positive response to its request.

Petrides said Cyprus is currently hosting around 10,000 persons granted protection only in the past few years.

Syrian nationals account for over 26 per cent of the overall migratory influx to Cyprus from 2016 onwards.

According to available data, the number arriving in Cyprus and applying for asylum between January and June 2019 is nearly 7,000, while the backlog of applications awaiting examination has increased to 15,000.

Cyprus is located 100 miles (160 kilometres) from Syria’s Mediterranean coast, has not seen the massive inflow of migrants experienced by Turkey and Greece.