(Reuters) Cyprus has been stretched beyond its limits in accommodating asylum seekers and migrants and needs support from its European Union partners, a government official said on Friday.
Previously overlooked as a migratory route, the eastern Mediterranean island has seen an increase in irregular arrivals over the past four years. On Thursday, a European human rights watchdog asked Cyprus to investigate reports of sometimes violent attempts to drive away migrants at sea, a practice that is internationally banned. Nicosia has denied the accusations.
“Cyprus is a country which is at the receiving end of the biggest inflows as a percentage of its population, with the risk of demographic changes,” deputy government spokesman Viktor Papadopoulos told a news briefing.
