NICOSIA: The president of Cyprus said Tuesday he has personally asked the head of the European Union鈥檚 executive arm to intercede with Lebanese authorities so that they could put a stop to boatloads of Syrian refugees from heading to the east Mediterranean island nation.
President Nikos Christodoulides told reporters that Lebanon is the beneficiary of significant EU financial aid for both its own citizens and for the hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees it continues to host, but that doesn鈥檛 come without strings attached.
鈥淭his aid can鈥檛 be given while we have to deal with this issue,鈥� Christodoulides said, adding that he personally spoke with EU Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not only the Republic of Cyprus but the EU itself that is facing a serious problem given these phenomena we have seen in recent days.鈥�
In the last 48 hours, more than 350 migrants and asylum seekers, almost exclusively Syrian nationals, arrived in Cyprus by boat, according to Cypriot government spokesman Constantinos Letymbiotis. It鈥檚 believed more boatloads of migrants are on their way.
Last month, some 450 Syrian migrants aboard six boats were spotted off the southeastern coast of Cyprus within a 24-hour span. All six boats had departed from Lebanon.
The EU is willing to give Lebanon more money to cope with the huge number of refugees it hosts, but 鈥渇or this thing to happen, Lebanon shouldn鈥檛 allow migrants to leave and come to Cyprus,鈥� Christodoulides said.
The Cypriot president said the recent seaborne influx of Syrian migrants has reverted Cyprus back into 鈥渃risis mode鈥� despite managing in recent months to repatriate more migrants who had their asylum applications rejected than those arriving.
Christodoulides chaired an ad-hoc meeting of top police and government officials Tuesday in an effort to come up with ways of dealing with the sudden migrant influx.
He said his government could adopt additional, temporary measures designed to help authorities cope with the influx that may not be 鈥渓iked鈥� by Cypriots. He didn鈥檛 elaborate.
Meanwhile, Cyprus said a government proposal to enable repatriations of Syrian refugees by designating specific areas within the country as safe zones is 鈥済aining ground鈥� among the island nation鈥檚 fellow EU member states.
Justice Minister Constantinos Ioannou said that given the potential risk of the Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza engulfing Lebanon and other Middle Eastern states, it鈥檚 incumbent on the EU to reach a collective decision on Syria.