Cyprus: The government of Cyprus has halted the processing of asylum applications from Syrians after a significant rise in arrivals this month, officials report. More than 1,000 individuals have reached Cyprus on boats from Lebanon in recent weeks due to escalating tensions in the Middle East.
This mass movement of people resulted in calls from Nicosia to its European Union allies to provide more aid to Lebanon, as well as rethink the situation of war-torn Syria, which is currently deemed unsafe for repatriating asylum seekers.
According to Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, this is an emergency measure and a challenging decision, taken to safeguard the interests of Cyprus.
Cyprus is the easternmost state of the European Union and is located about 160km (100 miles) west of Lebanon or Syria. In the first three months of this year, it received more than 2,000 arrivals by sea, compared to just 78 during the same period in 2020. As a result, asylum seekers will be restricted to two reception camps that offer only food and shelter, with no other benefits.
It was reported that those who decide to leave the facilities in Lebanon will lose all advantages and will not be permitted to function. Nikos Christodoulides, visited Lebanon last week and is in contact with the European Commission to find ways to help Beirut tackle the issue of Syrian refugees. Lebanon is currently facing a monetary crisis and is hosting around 805,000 Syrian refugees, out of which 90 percent are living in poverty, according to the United Nations.
Lebanese authorities believe that the actual number of refugees in their country is much higher, ranging between 1.5 and 2 million. Many of these individuals fled their home country due to the ongoing civil war, which is now lasted for 14 years.
Recently, Cypriot Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou visited Denmark, Czechia, and Greece to seek backing for a motivation to get the European Union to declare certain parts of Syria safe. However, UN agencies, human rights groups, and Western governments contend that Syria is not yet secure sufficiently for refugees to return.
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