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Cyprus is preparing to send an advisory team to Lebanon in the coming days to work to stop the flow of refugees to its shores, which has intensified in the last two days, with the arrival of five ships on the European island yesterday, Monday 7 September, according to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA).
Cyprus intends to turn to the European Union for help, Cypriot Interior Minister Nikos Norris said yesterday at a press conference, following his meeting with the Ministry of Justice, Defense, Foreign Affairs and the National Guard, and He added that his country needs more ships to deal with the refugee ships, among which are Lebanese and Syrians.
The Mediterranean island announced yesterday that it had returned a ship for refugees, while seeking to return two other ships that it had sighted near its shores, according to the Cyprus Mail newspaper.
The increase in the number of vessels leaving Lebanon for Cyprus, which is 160 kilometers away, was preceded by the explosion in the port of Beirut on August 4, which killed about 200 people and caused the destruction of entire neighborhoods. with the displacement of 300 thousand of their homes.
Norris said that his country is “aware of the Lebanese problem”, referring to “the position of his country with the Lebanese people”, but that his goal now is to stop illegal immigration, after the refugee reception centers on the island are “full”.
Last Saturday, the island received two ships, one of which contained 55 refugees, and the second included 33 others, followed on Sunday by the arrival of 51 refugees, then another 60 who arrived on Monday.
“Anyone arriving by boat to apply for asylum must be received at least temporarily until their application is considered,” a spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said, citing the French News Agency (AFP).
It takes years to review asylum applications in Cyprus, according to the website “Info Migrantes”, which deals with refugees, but the Cypriot parliament approved an amendment to its laws on Friday, September 4, reducing the period for rejection of asylum applications from 75 days to 15 days, and introducing new taxes to detect false marriages and restricting Acceptance of foreign students.
According to data on the UNHCR website, from the beginning of the year to the end of August, Cyprus received 726 refugees, most of whom reached the Turkish shores.
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