Cyprus returned over 70 migrants to Lebanon on Sunday (July 30), the Cyprus State Broadcasting Corporation reports, citing the country’s Ministry of the Interior.

Official security forces rescued the seafaring migrants around 12 nautical miles from the island’s southeastern coast three days ago. Their vessel, which was at risk of capsizing, held around 11 children, nine women and 53 men.

Government sources did not report the migrants’ nationalities. 

Lebanon is considered a "safe country" by the Cypriot government, which has repeatedly stressed that refugee camps on the island are overcrowded. 

Highest asylum ratio in EU

In 2022, the tiny island – located south of Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean – received the most asylum applications in relation to population in the entire EU bloc, according to figures published by the EU agency Eurostat.

Cyprus also performed the bloc's highest number of repatriations in relation to population (around 7,000) last year.

Earlier this summer, the Cypriot government launched a social media campaign looking to deter migrants – especially those from sub-Saharan Africa – from seeking asylum on the island. 

The campaign, called "Let's Talk Truth About Cyprus", outlined the country’s asylum application rate of rejection – 96% – and policies banning people from re-entering the bloc for five years if their request is rejected. 

France24 reports that out of some 21,500 asylum applications filed in Cyprus in 2022, only around 330 people were granted refugee status.

With dpa