A new mass arrival of migrants for the fourth consecutive day was recorded in Cyprus, welcoming two boats with over 100 Syrians on Monday evening, BNR reported.
They are now subject to the government's decision to suspend the processing of asylum applications from Syrian migrants, the interior ministry announced. With the new group, the number of migrants arriving in Cyprus by sea in just the last two weeks has exceeded 1,100 people, transported on 21 boats.
The government is trying to stop the migration influx with the decision to suspend the processing of asylum applications from all applicants from Syria. It will take effect from Sunday, immediately after it was announced by President Nikos Christodoulides, the interior ministry said.
Arriving Syrians will be able to submit asylum applications, but their documents will not be processed. They will be accommodated in two migrant camps and will not benefit from previous rights to additional benefits and work. More than 10,000 currently pending applications from Syrians are also being frozen. The measure will be implemented within a period of 21 months, which is the maximum allowed under the European directive on responding to extraordinary migratory flows, the interior ministry said.
Cyprus expects the EU to reach a decision within this period to designate areas in Syria as safe and to activate procedures for the repatriation of migrants there.