A Cypriot law enforcement vessel veered off the coast of Lebanon on Wednesday amid reports of Cyprus stepping up efforts to bar Syrian refugees from getting to the island on small boats.
An advocacy group had announced that up to five boatloads of refugees were being barred from sailing onward because of the presence of the vessel.
At the time of filing this report, the authorities in Cyprus have yet to comment.
Nicosia had last weekend, announced that it was halying the processing of asylum applications amid a sharp increase in the number of Syrians arriving in Cyprus from Lebanon.
It wants its European Union partners to review the status of Syria, currently out of bounds for returns.
One Cypriot maritime police patrol vessel, the Evagoras, had been seen on ship tracking websites in international waters off the coast of Tripoli in Lebanon.
We have taken some other measures said Cyprus’ Interior Minister, Constantinos Ioannou has said that the authorities in charge had taken some other measures to prevent arrivals, one of such measures included suspending assessment of new asylum applications.
Halting the examination of asylum requests means that new arrivals will have to choose between staying in government reception camps with food and shelter and regulated exits, or live independently and forgo the right to any benefits.
It is yet unclear how many Syrians might be affected by the move but it has been recorded that just over 8,500 asylum applications were made from 2023 till the end of March 2024.
That convention requires that asylum-seekers are admitted to territory and given access to asylum procedures. It also bars the return of individuals to a place where they would face possible threats to their life or freedom.
