(AP) Syria has agreed to take back any of its citizens intercepted trying to reach Cyprus by boat, the Mediterranean island nation’s deputy minister for migration said Monday.
Nicholas Ioannides says two inflatable boats, each carrying 30 Syrians, were already turned back in recent days in line with a bilateral search and rescue agreement that Cyprus and Syria now have in place.
Officials didn’t share further details about the agreement.
Cypriot navy and police patrol boats intercepted the two vessels on May 9th and 10th after they put out a call for help. They were outside Cypriot territorial waters but within the island’s search and rescue area of responsibility, a government statement said. They were subsequently escorted back to a port in the Syrian city of Tartus.
