https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/asylum-seekers-stuck-in-cyprus-buffer-zone
Cypriot Interior Minister Nikos Nouris says the ordeal of three Cameroonians currently stuck in the buffer zone could end if EU fellow members agreed to take them in, with reports saying the bloc is still looking for consensus on migration policy but nothing has been agreed to date...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/marine-patrol-chased-out-of-northern-waters
A Greek Cypriot police vessel was chased out of an area north of Tylliria, with reports saying shots were fired before an encounter with a Turkish coast guard vessel came to an end, while a Turkish Cypriot statement denies such an incident ever took place...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/police-not-ruling-out-criminal-probe-in-fire-deaths
The Cypriot government has rejected accusations of a lax response to Saturday’s deadly wildfire, with police not ruling out a criminal investigation that could include a probe into the deaths of four Egyptian workers who died while trying to escape the inferno...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/questions-emerge-in-cyprus-fire-deaths
Pro-migrant group KISA is accusing authorities and farmland bosses of leaving foreign workers to fend for themselves in Saturday’s wildfire in Cyprus, as more questions are being raised following the death of four Egyptian workers who perished while trying to evacuate in an inferno with the odds overwhelmingly stacked against them...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/another-refugee-boat-pushed-back-in-cyprus
A boat carrying 58 presumptive refugees including women and children was pushed back by Cypriot authorities, after a standstill ended when marine police received instructions from land to escort the vessel back to Lebanon...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/mitsotakis-and-erdogan-agree-to-calm-summer
In a 50-minute meeting described by Greek sources as an 'ice breaker,' Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to a joint understanding on Monday that 2020 tensions should not be repeated in 2021, while noting at the same time that the big differences between the two NATO members remain...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/women-and-children-allowed-off-refugee-boat
Close to a hundred Syrian refugees were spotted on board a vessel on Wednesday off Cyprus’ Cape Greco, with reports saying half of them were women and children while coast guard officials ordered the men to remain on the boat...
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/two-menoyia-escapees-apprehended
Two escapees facing deportation at Menoyia Immigration Detention Center were apprehended by police on Monday over a dozen miles away, following a large-scale operation including air support...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/four-arrested-on-human-smuggling-charges
Cypriot police have arrested four individuals on human smuggling charges after a number of people including a woman and two children were apprehended in the buffer zone during an attempt to cross from north to south...
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/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/fence-wars-break-out-near-buffer-zone
Opposing camps have been making headlines recently over a controversial barbwire fence near the buffer zone, with one group cutting a piece of barbed wire and the other restoring it, with all caught on tape...
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/critics-slam-trump-like-fence-installed-in-nicosia-suburb
The government came under fire on Tuesday over a decision to lay razor wire along a section of the Astromeritis buffer zone in the Nicosia district....
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/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/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/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....
