NICOSIA (Reuters) – Cyprus has suspended processing asylum applications from Syrian citizens following a sharp increase in irregular arrivals this month, authorities said on Sunday.
More than 1,000 people have arrived in Cyprus on boats from Lebanon since the beginning of April, amid worsening tensions in the Middle East.
Nicosia therefore asked its European Union (EU) partners to do more to help Lebanon and to reconsider the status of Syria, torn by war and considered too dangerous to repatriate asylum seekers there.
“This is an emergency measure, a difficult decision to take to protect the interests of Cyprus,” Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides told reporters.
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Nikos Christodoulides and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, discussed the possibility of strengthening economic aid allocated to Beirut, a Cypriot government spokesperson said in a statement.
To this end, it was agreed that they would travel together to Lebanon after a preparatory visit by the Commission.
Lebanon, in the grip of a serious financial crisis, is welcoming hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees.
Cyprus, the EU’s easternmost state and closest to the Middle East, lies about 100 miles west of the Lebanese or Syrian coasts.
It recorded more than 2,000 arrivals by sea in the first three months of the year, compared to just 78 during the same period in 2023.
In practice, the suspension of application processing means that asylum seekers will be confined to two reception camps that provide shelter, food, and regulate exits, with no other benefits.
Those who choose to leave these facilities will automatically lose all assistance and will not be allowed to work, government sources said.
(Written by Michele Kambas; French version Kate Entringer)
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