Cyprus sees less of African migrants but increase in Syrian migrants lately

Despite a decrease in arrivals of Africans from northern Cyprus to southern Cyprus and an overall reduction compared to last year, Syrian migrants arriving either directly from their country or via Lebanon have increased.

According report by Greek Cypriot media, over the past few days, overcrowded vessels with people have been consistently located off Cape Greco.

In the first 13 days of December, 446 Syrian nationals arrived, a tenfold increase compared to the same period last year when only 48 had arrived.

From the beginning of the year until the afternoon of Tuesday, December 13th, 3,889 Syrian nationals had arrived by sea, Phieleftheros reports, based on information from the Ministry of Interior.

Approximately 70%, or 2,725 individuals, arrived on their vessels in the last three and a half months.

A significant concern for authorities is the inability to initiate deportation procedures for Syrians, as is done with individuals from Sub-Saharan Africa, due to their origin from a war-torn region.