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In a letter published on Thursday 03/18, the Council of Europe asked Cyprus to investigate information on the forced return of migrants who tried to reach the Mediterranean island of Lebanon in September, while Nicosia confirmed that it respected international law.
Dunia Mijatovi, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, wrote to Cypriot Interior Minister Nikos Norris in a letter dated 10 March published on Thursday: “I call on the Cypriot authorities to carry out independent and meaningful investigations” into The issue.
In the letter, Mijatovi said he had received information that “ships carrying migrants, including people likely in need of international protection, were unable to dock in Cyprus and were returned arbitrarily, sometimes violently.”
He stressed that human rights must be “respected” even in times of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a message released by the Council of Europe on Thursday, the Cypriot minister responded on March 16 saying that Nicosia respected international and European law.
“The Cypriot authorities prevented the illegal entry of Lebanese immigrants who were not seeking international protection and were able to return them safely to Lebanon,” wrote Norris, referring to an agreement reached with the Lebanese authorities in September.
He added that 24 Lebanese seeking international protection were able to dock in Cyprus, but another 210 Lebanese were spotted at sea and returned to their country.
Lebanon, located 160 kilometers from Cyprus, is experiencing an unprecedented economic crisis. The situation in the country worsened after the bloody explosion in the port of Beirut in August.
Since the so-called “Balkan” migration route between Turkey and Europe was closed in 2015, asylum applications in Cyprus have risen from 2,253 that year to 13,648 in 2019, according to the Interior Ministry.
