Beirut: Europe and the Arabs - Agencies
The European Union must help Cyprus deal with record numbers of Syrian migrants arriving from Lebanon, the Cypriot government said.
Before a visit to Beirut to discuss the emergency on Monday, Cypriot Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou appealed to Brussels for support, saying that the country's reception facilities were on the verge of collapse. The Middle East News Agency reported on Sunday morning.
"This is a cry for help. There has been a very sharp increase [in flows]. We are in crisis mode, beyond our capabilities," Konstantinos Ioannou told Britain's Guardian newspaper.
Last week, 15 boats carrying 800 people made a 10-hour journey from Lebanon to Cyprus in what its president, Nikos Christodoulides, described as a “dangerous crisis situation.”
“Most of these 800 were young people, but they also included nearly 100 unaccompanied children for whom we had to immediately provide guardianship,” Ioannou added.
More than 2,000 people made the 100-mile sea crossing from Syria in the first three months of the year, compared to 78 in the same period last year, according to figures released by the Cypriot Interior Ministry.
Christodoulides said his government would have to implement "undesirable" measures if the flow continues.
He concluded by saying, "We strongly believe that [Lebanon] should receive financial assistance from the European Union."