Thread: 305 Syrian migrants reach Greek Cyprus; 313 are stopped in Turkey

305 Syrian migrants reach Greek Cyprus; 313 are stopped in Turkey

NICOSIA - The Associated Press


AP photo


Greek Cypriot police detained a 36-year-old man on Sept. 10 for allegedly driving one of two boats that brought 305 Syrian refugees to the island’s northwestern coast.

Another 29-year-old man was also taken into custody on suspicion of migrant trafficking.

Police spokesman Michalis Ioannou said the 202 men, 30 women and 73 children arrived about midnight in what is thought to be the largest number of migrants to reach the island in a single day. He said they departed from the southern province of Mersin on Sept. 9.

The passengers reported paying up to $2,000 each to smugglers for the trip. Some with relatives in Greek Cyprus have expressed a desire to remain, while others want to go to Germany or Scandinavia.

Among those waiting for the migrants at a reception center in Nicosia was Ammar Hammasho. The 35-year-old Syrian said he felt both joy and relief at seeing his four small children and wife behind the center’s chain-link fence after fearing for their safety during the trip.

Hammasho came to the island a year ago from the Syrian city of Idlib where he said his home was destroyed by airstrikes that killed one of his children.

“It’s getting worse,” Hammasho told The Associated Press.

“Everyone on either side is telling their own lies.”

In Turkey, the coast guard stopped an unnamed fishing boat carrying 93 Syrians and one Afghan migrant on Sept. 10 off the coast of Istanbul on the Black Sea. The authorities also caught an alleged Turkish smuggler.

Turkish authorities also announced late on Sept. 9 that coast guard boats had prevented two separate migrant landings in the Black Sea. In one, 68 Syrians and two Iranians were stopped in a sailboat with an alleged Turkish smuggler east of Bulgaria.

In the other, Turkish coast guard intercepted 149 Syrian migrants and two Ukrainians thought to be smugglers in a fishing boat east of Romania. The migrants and suspects were brought to the northwestern province of Kırklareli for processing.

Turkey and the European Union signed a deal in March 2016 to curb the flow of migrants to Greek islands on the Aegean Sea.

A million people crossed the sea in the year before the agreement, with hundreds drowning along the way.

305 Syrian migrants reach Greek Cyprus; 313 are stopped in Turkey

All men...send these men back to fight for their country and to rebuild.

Set up Safe Zones for the women and children and deport them. Let their men provide security for them.

Originally Posted by Beezer

All men...send these men back to fight for their country and to rebuild.

Set up Safe Zones for the women and children and deport them. Let their men provide security for them.

of course they're so much to do in their country beside the war which I understand not every body is a warrior they could help their children build school help in hospital