(AP) Cyprus wants the European Union’s border agency Frontex to step in and prevent the flow of migrant arrivals from Turkey that authorities say have stretched the eastern Mediterranean island nation’s asylum system to its limits.
It’s also asking the EU to “activate all available mechanisms” to help the country manage the arrival of Syrians either directly from Syria — especially the port of Tartus — or from Lebanon or Turkey.
The Cypriot Foreign Ministry says Turkey hasn’t included Cyprus in its program to halt migrant flows into the 27-member bloc since the deal was signed five years ago.
The country of around 1.1 million people is also asking the EU’s executive arm to help relocate a “significant number” of Syrian asylum-seekers who have been granted international protection.
