Cyprus' president said Tuesday he will not “open another route” for irregular migration by letting through more than two dozen asylum seekers now stranded in a U.N.-controlled buffer zone that bisects the divided island nation. war.
President Nikos Christodoulides told reporters that his government is ready to provide all humanitarian assistance to the 27 Afghan, Cameroonian, Sudanese and Iranian migrants if the need arises.
CHANCES OF PEACE TALKS RESTARTING IN CYPRUS APPEAR LESS AS TURKISH Cypriot LEADER SEES NO COMMON GROUND
But he said the 180-kilometer (120-mile) buffer zone “will not become a new route for the passage of illegal immigrants.” Turkey allows them to pass through its territory and board planes and ships bound for northern Cyprus, Christodoulides said.
Cyprus was divided in 1974 when Turkey invaded following a coup by supporters of union with Greece backed by the Greek junta. Only Turkey recognizes a Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence in the north of the island, where it maintains a force of more than 35,000 soldiers.
Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004, but only the internationally recognized south enjoys full benefits as a member and has the authority to extend asylum or international protection to migrants.
The UN said the 27 migrants – about half of whom are women and children – are receiving food, water, first aid and shelter through its refugee agency UNHCR after Cypriot authorities denied them to submit their asylum claims. .
Cars pass by UN peacekeepers as they stand guard inside the UN buffer zone in the area where some migrants are stranded, in the divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Tuesday, June 4, 2024. The Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides said he will not “open another route” for irregular migration by allowing passage to more than two dozen asylum seekers now stranded in a UN-controlled buffer zone that bisects the island nation. divided by war. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
The UN said it has no mandate to process asylum claims and cannot send migrants back to either the north or Turkey.
“We are making representations to the Republic of Cyprus to comply with its obligations under the European Union and international law,” UN peacekeeper spokesman Aleem Siddique told The Associated Press. “We are looking for a solution that works.”
The arrival of the immigrants occurs a few days before the local elections and the European Parliament, where migration is a main campaign issue and in which the extreme right has taken advantage of it to achieve important advances, according to opinion polls.
In recent years, Cyprus had seen a significant increase in migrants seeking asylum after coming north from Turkey and crossing the buffer zone. According to officials, a combination of tough measures including intensified police patrols along the southern fringe of the buffer zone, expedited processing of asylum claims and expedited repatriation procedures have reduced such crossings by more than 85%.
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The island also experienced a large influx of Syrian refugees who arrived on the island by boat from Lebanon in the first quarter of the year. But an agreement with Lebanese authorities last month effectively stopped such boat arrivals.
It is not the first time that migrants have been stranded in the buffer zone, and Cypriot authorities fear a repeat of the dilemma. In 2021, Cameroonian asylum seekers Grace Enjei and Daniel Ejuba, who were stuck in the buffer zone for six months, were brought to Italy along with some other migrants by Pope Francis at the end of his visit to Cyprus.
