Cyprus Fleet Intercepted Five Migrant Boats Heading to the Island

Two patrol boats of the port police were dispatched from Cyprus to patrol the coast of Lebanon in search of boats carrying migrants. In one day, the coastal fleet prevented the arrival of five ships with illegal immigrants.

Five boats, carrying about 500 migrants onboard, were headed for Cyprus and were intercepted by two ships, "Alasia" and "Theseus".

Cyprus ships, with 20 servicemen on one and 18 police officers on the other, halted the migrant boats about 50 nautical miles off the coast of Lebanon, halfway between Cyprus and Lebanon.

According to local media reports, Nicosia's efforts to return the five boats to Lebanon were unsuccessful. Two more Cyprus Navy boats, each carrying 12 police officers, were sent to the scene. They delivered medicine, water, food, and blankets.

It was also reported that later, a sixth boat, carrying around 35 migrants onboard, was detected by radars 18 nautical miles off Cyprus. The ship "Evagoras" was sent to intercept it.

It is worth noting that this is the first mission of Cypriot ships in international waters after an agreement was reached with Lebanon last week.

The Ministry of Interior stated that the authorities are taking all possible steps to address the urgent issue of migrant flows from Lebanon in coordination with the authorities of the neighboring country.

Recall that Cyprus is in a "crisis state" due to the increasing number of migrants arriving on the island. The country's President, Nikos Christodoulides, has already appealed to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to intervene in the situation.

Since the beginning of April, more than 1,000 people have arrived from Lebanon. Over the first three months of this year, more than 2,000 arrivals have been registered by sea. In the last two days, two more boats with 110 Syrians have arrived in Cyprus.

Earlier, it was reported that Cypriot authorities suspended the process of considering applications from Syrian migrants for refugee status.

It is known that Syrians will still be able to apply for asylum, but their applications will not be considered for 21 months.

These measures were taken to make Cyprus a less attractive destination for illegal immigrants.