https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-turns-refugee-boat-back-to-lebanon
Dozens of refugees who were on board a vessel spotted off Cyprus on Sunday returned to their point of departure in Lebanon, contradicting earlier reports that the boat had been escorted to Cape Greco...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/syrian-refugees-reach-cyprus-by-boat
Dozens of newly arrived refugees from Syria in a wooden boat made it to Cyprus, just days after Lebanese police said they blocked over 50 undocumented Syrians from attempting to each the island...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/syrian-boy-allowed-to-reunite-with-parents
A young Syrian boy stuck in the north for over a month was reunited with his parents, following pressure on the government to allow the unaccounted minor to cross over to the south...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/michel-says-eu-will-be-active-participant-in-cyprus-peace-talks
The EU remains committed to the resumption of Cyprus peace talks and is looking forward to the informal meeting set to take place in Geneva later this month, where it will participate as an active observer, European Council President Charles Michel said Tuesday after meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/top-eu-officials-head-to-turkey-in-bid-to-improve-ties
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council chief Charles Michel are headed to Turkey on Tuesday on an official visit aimed at improving ties between Brussels and Ankara....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/syrian-refugees-escorted-to-cape-greco
A total of 75 undocumented migrants from Syria reached the Republic of Cyprus on Monday, after a Cypriot coast guard vessel escorted their wooden boat to Cape Greco...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/damning-state-dep-report-highlights-cyprus-human-rights-issues
A US State Department country report on human rights practices in 2020 proved damning for Cyprus which was found to have had significant human rights issues last year....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/eu-presidents-to-go-to-turkey-next-week
The presidents of the European Council and the European Commission will meet Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey on April 6, an EU spokesman said on Monday, in the latest sign of improving ties....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/eu27-open-up-to-turkey-but-with-caveat
European Union leaders made good on Thursday on a 2016 promise to deepen trade ties with Turkey, but also warned Ankara to expect sanctions if it restarts exploration over disputed hydrocarbons in the eastern Mediterranean...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-rejects-eu-draft-on-turkey-which-seeks-to-deepen-trade-ties
Cyprus has rejected a draft prepared for a summit of EU leaders this week which seeks to deepen trade ties with Turkey, describing it as “totally unacceptable.” ...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/med-5-want-eu-to-act-as-one-on-migration
The interior ministers of the five Mediterranean countries on the front line of mass migration to Europe want their European Union partners to share the burden more equitably...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/eu-frontline-ministers-talk-migration-in-athens
Cypriot Interior Minister Nicos Nouris is in Athens this weekend where he is attending a MED5 meeting on immigration, with some of the bloc’s Mediterranean members tackling issues stemming from Brussels’ new migration proposals that divide the union...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-scrambles-to-reduce-asylum-backlog
Interior Minister Nicos Nouris says the government is moving forward with rejections of asylum applications under new, faster procedures to clear a system backlog, with Europe seeking a comprehensive solution and a commissioner calling on Cypriot authorities to investigate illegal pushbacks...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/minister-points-finger-at-north-over-barbwire
Cypriot Interior Minister Nicos Nouris has fired back at critics in the north over the south’s decision to install barbwire near the UN buffer zone to halt illegal crossings, blaming the need for a fence on lack of action on the part of Turkish Cypriot authorities...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-begins-sealing-porous-frontier
The Republic of Cyprus says a barbwire fence currently being set up along a strip adjacent to the UN buffer zone should not be seen as a border between north and south but a way to hold back undocumented migrants...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/brussels-concerned-over-pournara-refugees
The Republic of Cyprus’ handling of asylum seekers at Pournara camp remains on Brussels’ radar, with a host of different challenges raising questions over how the European Union and some member states can get on the same page without resorting to legal battles...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/pournara-residents-fired-up-about-leaving
More protests took place at Pournara on Wednesday, after asylum seekers with grievances reportedly set a tent on fire while some camp residents managed to leave camp...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/jordan-supports-cyprus-solution-based-on-un-resolutions-ambassador-says
Jordan’s Ambassador to Cyprus Mohamed El-Fayez affirmed on Tuesday his country’s support for a resolution of the Cyprus Problem on the basis of relevant UN resolutions....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/comment/opinion/from-bismarck-to-merkel
'Turks and Germans loved each other for a long time,' Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a visit to Berlin in 2018. He was citing the historic words of Germany’s first chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, which still seem to determine Berlin’s policy on Ankara. We should recognize this reality as we enter a new geopolitical era, without succumbing to sentimentalism and spasmodic reactions....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/asylum-seekers-at-pournara-breach-gate
A group of asylum seekers at Nicosia’s Pournara camp got a brief taste of freedom on Wednesday, after residents breached the front gate during a protest against long-term detention at the migration facility...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/pournara-residents-protest-harsh-camp-conditions
Asylum seekers living in the Pournara camp located at the outskirts of Nicosia staged a peaceful protest on Monday against the delays in the processing of their applications, as well as against the severe overcrowding and harsh conditions of life in the camp....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/officials-weigh-in-on-pournara-brawl
Eight tenants at Pournara migration facility were placed under arrest on Tuesday, following a violent brawl on camp grounds that erupted between two groups under circumstances still unclear...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/violent-brawl-breaks-out-at-pournara
A large-scale violent confrontation between groups of asylum seekers erupted at Pournara camp on Monday night, with police calling for backup and two dozen ending up in the Emergency Room...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/coast-guard-tows-refugee-boat-to-safety
A boat with Syrian refugees arrived in Cyprus around midnight, with coast guard officials allowing women and children to spend the night at the marina while COVID-19 tests have been ordered on all 55 persons...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/two-arrested-after-syrian-refugees-reach-shore
Two men have been arrested on suspicion of people smuggling after over a dozen presumptive refugees from Syria reached Cypriot shores late Tuesday night, while there was still concern over overcrowding concerns at a migrant camp outside the capital...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/syrian-refugees-held-at-police-station
Newly-arrived presumptive refugees were on standby this week, after reports said they were taken to a police station in Famagusta district due to overcrowding conditions at a migrant reception centre in rural Nicosia...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-migrant-camp-way-over-capacity
The overcrowding situation with refugees and asylum seekers at Pournara camp was back in the news, following an unannounced visit by the state’s Ombudswoman who said she saw some improvements but also some problems still not being addressed such as the right to move freely out of the camp...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/eu-leaders-weigh-sanctions-over-turkey-s-med-drilling-work
Concerned that their credibility is at stake, European Union leaders are set Thursday to give the green light to the expansion of sanctions against Turkey over its exploration of gas reserves in Mediterranean waters claimed by EU members Greece and Cyprus....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/eu-greece-sign-agreement-for-new-migrant-center-on-lesvos
The European Commission on Thursday signed a memorandum outlining a detailed plan agreed by Greek authorities and EU agencies to establish a new, up-to-standard reception center on the island of Lesvos by early September 2021. This is a key step in resolving the situation following the fires that destroyed the Moria camp in September. It is the result of the work of European Taskforce that was created at that time....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/systems-tested-by-slaughterhouse-outbreak
A company that owns a slaughterhouse in rural Nicosia has until Monday to explain how 79 people were found working without proper authorization, following a coronavirus outbreak on the premises and days after the firm hinted that government officials were supplying asylum seekers for manual labour through backchannels...
