(AP) Cyprus is seeking help from the United Nations to stem an “avalanche” of migrants who make their way from the ethnically divided island’s breakaway north across a U.N.-controlled buffer zone to seek asylum in numbers that authorities cannot cope with, the […]
(AP) Cyprus police have arrested five Syrians on suspicion of people trafficking after a police patrol boat plucked them and 32 of their countrymen from the sea when their rickety boats sank close to the island’s southeastern tip. Police say the five […]
(AP) The European Union has asked Turkish Cypriot authorities in the breakaway north of ethnically divided Cyprus to toughen up measures aimed at reducing the rising number of migrants seeking asylum in the island nation’s internationally recognized south. An EU official said […]
(AP) Five European Union nations on the Mediterranean who fear possible waves of refugees driven by hunger out of Africa called Saturday for an end to the EU’s “voluntary” solidarity on migrants and a better way to redistribute the burden of caring […]
(Reuters) Mediterranean countries on major migrant routes into Europe expect over 150,000 arrivals this year as food shortages caused by the Ukraine conflict threaten a new migration wave from Africa and the Middle East. “This year the frontline member states are expected, […]
(AP) Cyprus police on Friday detained two men on suspicion of helping two dozen Syrian asylum-seekers reach the east Mediterranean island nation aboard a rigid-hulled inflatable boat. A court ordered the two men — aged 30 and 28 — held in police […]
(AP) Cyprus will install an electronic surveillance system along the buffer zone that divides the island nation along ethnic lines, to stem a surge in illegal immigration through the breakaway north, the government said Tuesday. Government spokesman Marios Pelekanos announced the plan […]
(AP) The war in Ukraine has focused the world’s attention on the plight of millions fleeing the country. But migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and elsewhere continue to reach ethnically divided Cyprus, where authorities say they’re overwhelmed. On the outskirts of the […]
(AFP) Cyprus struck a deal Monday with the European Union to help it handle a large migrant influx to the divided Mediterranean island, which Nicosia says is the highest per capita in the EU. The agreement will make it easier for Cyprus […]
(AP) Turkey “has much to gain” if it works with the European Union to stem migrant arrivals from its airports and shores to the ethnically divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus, a top EU official said Sunday. European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas […]
(AP) The chief of the European Union’s Frontex border agency said Wednesday that the repatriation of migrants is Cyprus’ “most urgent need” and that his organization is ready to facilitate flights to return home people who had asylum claims rejected in Cyprus. […]
(AFP) The small Mediterranean island of Cyprus has an outsized problem with irregular migration, says the interior minister of the EU member state located closest to the Middle East. “For us, this is a state of emergency,” Nicos Nouris told AFP, adding […]
(AP) The repatriations of migrants who have had their asylum applications rejected is essential to easing overcrowding and reducing violence at a migrant reception camp, Cyprus’ interior minister said Wednesday. Minister Nicos Nouris told state broadcaster CyBC that 35 migrants suffered minor […]
(AP) The European Union and [its] border agency Frontex have helped Cyprus streamline procedures to return migrants who have had their asylum applications rejected amid soaring numbers of arrivals, the country’s interior minister said Tuesday. The Standard Operation Procedures for Returns have […]
(AFP) If he wasn’t making good money smuggling irregular migrants to the European Union by sea, Ibrahim himself might have joined the growing exodus from crisis-hit Lebanon. “If I didn’t work in this profession, I would have left, just like so many […]
(AFP) Pope Francis on Saturday blamed the EU’s nationalist divisions for a lack of coordination on migration as he began a landmark trip to Greece, aiming to improve complicated relations with the country’s Orthodox Church. Francis said that Europe was “torn by […]
(AP) Cyprus said Wednesday it will seek European Union approval to stop processing asylum claims from migrants illegally entering the east Mediterranean island nation. Government spokesman Marios Pelekanos said a surge of new migrant arrivals is fueling serious crime, taxing state coffers […]
(AP) France has agreed to help initiate talks between Cyprus and French-speaking African countries for a deal to take back their citizens whose asylum applications have been rejected, the Cypriot interior minister said Saturday. Interior Minister Nicos Nouris said his French counterpart […]
(AP) The European Union should take “specific actions” to stop Belarus “pushing” migrants across its border into Polish territory, Poland’s president said on Thursday. President Andrzej Duda didn’t outline what those actions might be, but said he’s hoping for assistance beyond what […]
(AP) The European Union could work out ways to stem the flow of migrants from Turkey to Cyprus and other EU nations when it holds high-level talks in Ankara next month, a top EU official said Tuesday. EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva […]
(AP) Austria’s minister for the European Union on Thursday accused Turkey of using migrant flows as a means to pressure the 27-member bloc for its own purposes and warned that the EU won’t be “blackmailed” by any country. Karoline Edtstadler said countries […]
(AP) Cyprus on Monday sent 88 Syrian migrants back to Lebanon after they tried to reach the eastern Mediterranean island nation on two boats. Interior Minister Nicos Nouris told the Associated Press that rescue crews continue to search for one of five […]
(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 […]
(AFP) Cyprus said Friday it is in a “state of emergency” because of an inflow of Syrian migrants that has flooded its reception centres, appealing for help from the European Union. Cyprus has this week faced a “daily wave of migrant arrivals” […]
(Kathimerini) Turkey must resume the return of irregular migrants from Greece “without delay,” the European Commission’s enlargement chief, Oliver Varhelyi, said on Tuesday. “It is important for Turkey to resume returns of irregular migrants from Greece to Turkey without delay, and avoid […]
(AP) Lebanese troops aborted early Sunday an attempt to smuggle dozens of Syrian migrants to the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, the military said. The attempt to smuggle 69 Syrian citizens comes as Lebanon is witnessing a severe economic and financial crisis that […]
(Anadolu) Athens has “no right” to appoint the chief Islamic cleric, or mufti, of Muslims living in Greece according to the Treaty of Lausanne, Turkey’s president said on Friday. “How can you do that? We don’t appoint the patriarch,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan […]
(Reuters) The head of the European Commission said it will make a proposal to Turkey to ensure the flow of funding for refugees that the country hosts, adding that Ankara must however respect human rights and the rule of law. Ursula von […]
(Kathimerini) Ankara accused Athens on Tuesday of violating the rights of its Muslim minority, which it calls “Turkish,” and of pursuing policies against Turkey, saying Athens should instead “abide by international law.” In a statement issued after a three-hour meeting of Turkey’s […]
(AP) The interior ministers of the five Mediterranean countries on the front line of mass migration to Europe want their EU partners to share the burden more equitably. “We can no longer be punished for our geographical position,” Malta’s Byron Camilleri said […]
(AP) The interior ministers of the five Mediterranean countries on the front line of mass migration to Europe are meeting in Greece to discuss the European Union’s policies as the bloc works toward a new migration pact. Ministers from Italy, Spain, Malta, […]
(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 […]
(AP) The government of ethnically split Cyprus came under fire on Tuesday over a decision to lay razor wire along a section of a U.N.-controlled buffer zone. It says the move is needed to stem migrant inflows from the island’s breakaway north, […]
(AFP) Cyprus hit out at Turkey on Friday for acts it said were behind the creation of a new migration route that had “disproportionally burdened” it with the EU’s highest percentage of asylum-seekers. The Republic of Cyprus, a member of the European […]
(AP) Emmanuel Conteh negotiates the muddy, rutted pathways in shorts and torn plastic flip-flops and says he can’t sleep in his heavy canvas tent at night because of the cold. He laments the “hellish” conditions in ethnically divided Cyprus’ cramped Pournara migrant […]
(AP) More than two dozen migrants were injured during a large brawl between nationals from Syria and several African countries at an overcrowded migrant reception camp outside of Cyprus’ capital, a government official said Tuesday. Interior Ministry spokesman Loizos Michael told the […]
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(AP) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday that Turkey sees itself as a part of Europe, but he called on the European Union to “keep your promises” on issues such as the country’s membership bid and refugees. He spoke before an […]
(Euractiv) A group of Muslims attacked the French embassy in Cyprus in light of an escalating crisis between France and Turkey following the beheading on 16 October of history and geography professor Samuel Paty. A group of Muslims gathered on Tuesday in […]
(AP) Cyprus and Lebanon on Tuesday reaffirmed an agreement for Lebanese authorities to take back migrants aboard boats trying to reach Cypriot shores. Cypriot Interior Minister Nicos Nouris said Lebanese and Cypriot police and naval forces will intercept migrant boats departing from […]
(AP) Cypriot authorities pushed back 200 migrants and refugees arriving from Lebanon aboard boats earlier this month, ignoring their claims for asylum while in some instances using violence and coercive tactics, a human rights watchdog said on Tuesday. Human Rights Watch accused […]
(AP) Shortly after reaching the Greek island of Lesbos, a group of Afghan migrants say, their hopes for a new life in Europe were cut short when Greek authorities rounded them up, mistreated them, shoved them into life rafts and abandoned them […]
(AP) Cypriot authorities are alarmed over the arrival of four boats carrying Syrian and Lebanese migrants in waters off the east Mediterranean island nation’s coastline within a 48-hour span. Cyprus police said Sunday that four vessels appeared off Cyprus’ eastern and southern […]
(AP) Asylum-seekers infected with coronavirus could be seeping through the porous cease-fire line in the ethnically divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus, the country’s health minister warned Sunday. Minister Constantinos Ioannou pointed to “a problem” after a number of migrants who recently crossed […]
(WPLG) A purported Hezbollah associate arrived in Miami-Dade County on Friday evening after Cyprus agreed to turn him over to U.S. authorities to face money laundering charges in Miami-Dade County. Ghassan Diab, 37, had been a fugitive since 2016. Drug Enforcement Administration […]
(AP) The Hungarian government is “very concerned” that the coronavirus pandemic will trigger more waves of migrants trying to reach Europe from poorer nations where the disease will have a greater impact, the country’s foreign minister said Friday. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter […]
(Reuters) The European Union wants to rebuild trust with Turkey, its top diplomat said on Wednesday, after a standoff in March in which thousands of migrants attempted to force their way into Greece, triggering clashes on their border. Before the coronavirus pandemic […]
(AP) Cyprus’ interior minister said Tuesday that he asked police to launch a criminal investigation into allegations that girls staying at a migrants’ reception center were sexually harassed by other residents. Interior Minister Nicos Nouris told state broadcaster CyBC that he takes […]
(AP) The European Union must forge a common migration policy that obligates member states to take in a proportional number of asylum-seekers and restricts EU funding access to any country that refuses, Cyprus’ interior minister said Thursday. Nicos Nouris said it’s “imperative” […]
(AFP) In the thick of the coronavirus lockdown in Cyprus, authorities gave a group of asylum seekers a stark choice: move to an overcrowded camp or go home. The Mediterranean island deemed it a necessary step to save money — the tiny […]
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