(AP) A Cyprus court has sentenced a Syrian national to five years in prison for helping 31 Syrian migrants reach the east Mediterranean island nation aboard an overloaded boat, the attorney general’s office said Monday.
Stepped-up prosecutions and swift legal proceedings have contributed to a precipitous drop in the number of migrants reaching Cyprus after a government pledge to tackle the issue. It became a key issue during the 2023 presidential election.
The office said in a statement that the Syrian man, a migrant himself, was convicted on three charges including people trafficking and aiding migrants to enter Cyprus.
