The border safety company Frontex says irregular crossings into the EU over the Mediterranean rose final yr.
The our bodies of at the very least seven folks have been recovered off Cyprus after authorities mounted a significant search and rescue operation following the capsizing of a ship carrying refugees, Cyprus’s state broadcaster says.
An unspecified variety of persons are believed to be lacking whereas two folks have been rescued on Monday from worldwide waters about 30 nautical miles (55.5km) southeast of the island, the broadcaster mentioned.
Cyprus’s search and rescue coordination centre mentioned boats and plane have been deployed as a part of the rescue operation with out mentioning casualties.
In an official assertion, it mentioned a search and rescue operation was “ongoing to find lacking individuals after a migrant boat capsized 30 nautical miles (55 kilometres) southeast of Cape Greco”, referring to the southeastern-most level of the Mediterranean island.
A number of naval helicopters and police patrol boats have been concerned within the seek for survivors, the centre added.
In line with the Cyprus Information Company, one survivor informed authorities that on board have been roughly 20 Syrians who had departed from the port of Tartous, the scene of latest bloodshed in Syria.
The japanese Mediterranean island of Cyprus is lower than 200km (125 miles) from the Syrian and Lebanese coasts and has lengthy been a route for refugees looking for a greater life in Europe.
In line with United Nations figures, 125 refugees died within the japanese Mediterranean final yr, however the precise determine is more likely to be larger.
The European Union border safety company, Frontex, mentioned irregular border crossings into the EU over the japanese Mediterranean rose final yr regardless of a broader decline within the bloc.
Nicosia mentioned it has the best variety of new asylum seeker functions within the EU per capita however has managed to considerably scale back the determine.
Final month, the Ministry of Inside mentioned asylum functions dropped 69 per cent from 2022 to 2024 whereas irregular maritime arrivals had stopped since Might on account of harder authorities insurance policies.
The overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December has prompted some Syrian refugees to return dwelling. The Republic of Cyprus authorities reported that a median of 40 Syrians per day have requested to return dwelling since then.
The federal government additionally mentioned extra asylum seekers have been leaving Cyprus than arriving for the primary time in its impartial historical past.
