(AP) Cyprus and the United Nations agency for refugees on Thursday clashed over allegations that the east Mediterranean island nation continues to engage in so-called pushbacks against boats loaded with migrants departing from neighboring Syria or Lebanon.
The clash, which unfolded on the state broadcaster Thursday, came a few days after Cypriot authorities recovered two survivors and seven bodies in international waters off Cyprus after their boat apparently sank in rough seas.
Emilia Strovolidou, spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commission[er] for Refugees, told the state broadcaster that Cypriot police intercepted three boatloads of migrants inside Cypriot territorial waters … between March 13-14 but prevented them from disembarking at Larnaca port, making them turn back to Syria from where they departed.
