Bodies found washed up on the beach of northern Cyprus likely Syrian migrants

Two bodies washed up on the shores of North Cyprus, one a woman and the other a man are likely to have been Syrian refugees, Refugee Rights Association Legal Advisor Melis Türkkal said.

According to report by, Kibris Postasi, the woman’s body was discovered on a beach in Bafra and the man’s body in Dipkarpaz. Neither bodies had any identity cards on them. The clothes they were wearing were produced in Syria, making it likely that they were Syrians. She said that families had reported to the police that the people who set off from Lebanon were mainly Syrians and had been lost at sea.

It was also clear that the bodies had been in the water for some time.

Stating that there is no database to conduct any studies on the dead bodies washed up on the beaches, Türkkal said that if people who come to the TRNC for asylum purposes do not have their identity cards with them when they come to the country through irregular means, “I do not think there is anything that can be done in the TRNC to identify the dead bodies“, she said.

Referring to the project to strengthen the rights of asylum seekers, Türkkal said that some articles in the foreigners and immigration law should be changed.

“Asylum seekers coming to Cyprus through irregular means, without being separated from their families, without seeing any prison environment, is a situation where we cannot achieve results without increasing the court burden“.

While wars continue, there will always be refugees Türkkal said.

Kibris Postasi