Sixty-one migrants arrived in Paralimni by boat from the occupied territories

A total of 61 people, men, women and children, irregular migrants, arrived from the occupied territories by boat to the free areas, specifically to the area of Agia Triada in Paralimni.

As Christos Andreou, Police spokesman, told CYPE, "around 05.45 this morning, a boat was spotted outside the area of Agia Triada in Paralimni, which arrived from the occupied areas. There were 61 people on board the boat, 42 men, 8 women and 11 children".

He added that "representatives from State Services went to the area and the process of registration was carried out, and upon its completion, the migrants will be transferred to the First Reception Centre for Migrants "Pournara" in Kokkinotrimithia. Investigations are also being carried out by the Police in order to identify their traffickers".

Responding to a question, Andreou said that "in 2020, the Police across the free areas of Cyprus arrested a total of 27 people who were smuggling migrants, in 2021 50, while for 2022 from January until August 24, 65 smugglers were arrested. Also, the Police, in cooperation with other relevant services such as the Ministry of Interior and the Asylum Service, has deported a total of 4,019 migrants so far for 2022."

To another question, he replied that "most of the deportations have been to Sub-Saharan African countries, Georgia and other Asian countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh."

"The aim of most migrants arriving in Cyprus is to go to Central European countries such as Italy France and Belgium," he said.

According to Andreou, "in the last three days in Paphos province in six different cases, equal numbers of people tried to travel with fake or real documents posing as other persons to Central European countries. The Police arrested the six persons as well as a person who assisted in obtaining the fake documents.  They were brought before the Court and have been remanded pending further notice."

He also noted that "today and tomorrow the specific cases are expected to be registered before the Paphos District Court".