The suspects face charges of belonging to a criminal migrant smuggling organization and will remain in police detention for eight days until law enforcement concludes its investigation. 

Authorities said the police raided several homes in the southeastern part of the island after three months of investigative work and surveillance. 

Cypriot police spokesperson Christos Andreou told the Associated Press (AP) the police raid led to the discovery of 44 Syrians who are considered asylum seekers or have been accorded international protection status. The group will be questioned and released if they're not found to belong to the same ring, according to Andreou. 

Additionally, Andreou said the authorities are still in pursuit of seven other Syrians thought to be involved in the smuggling ring. The suspected ringleader is believed to have escaped abroad along with another alleged member of the gang.

Read more: Cyprus launches social media campaign to counter rise in migration 

Increasing irregular arrivals

Cyprus, a small eastern Mediterranean island nation, has seen almost daily irregular boat arrivals recently. This week, Cypriot authorities reportedly rescued 142 Syrian nationals aboard four separate boats. 

The country’s Interior Ministry has also noted an increase in sea arrivals. 

However, according to official figures, asylum applications have fallen. In June and July, international protection applications reached a combined 1,285 -- less than a third of the same period last year. 

 A newly formed group composed of members from the Asylum Service, Migration Department and Labor Ministry are currently reviewing government policy regarding foreign nationals living in Cyprus who are found to be implicated in migrant smuggling rings.  

Discouraging migrant arrivals  

The Cypriot government has started several initiatives in a bid to discourage irregular arrivals. 

In its latest move, the government declared that migrants who arrived after January 1 are not eligible for relocation to another EU country like France and Germany. 

"The Cyprus Republic, within its international obligations, will continue to undertake and strengthen measures aimed at managing as well as deterring migration inflows," the government said in a statement reported by AP.

Read more: Cyprus excludes new asylum seekers from resettlement scheme 

In June, the government launched a social media campaign called, "Let's Talk Truth About Cyprus". The campaign reportedly talks about the harsh realities of seeking asylum in Cyprus such as the 96% rejection rate and the five-year ban from entering the EU if rejected. 

Students caught in the middle of trafficking schemes 

In north Cyprus, media reports have documented how students from developing countries are lured by promises of an affordable European education that will land them a job in Europe. 

Agents who reportedly recruit students make grandiose but false promises of affordable housing, job opportunities and scholarships. However, since a residence visa is contingent on being enrolled in school, many students fail to find a job and can no longer afford the cost of tuition, inevitably falling into the grey area of being an undocumented migrant. Some students have reportedly been imprisoned and then deported to their country of origin. 

Magazi Ahmed, a Sudanese student, told news agency France24 in May, "All the people who come here are shocked by the reality that they discover. I have friends who also thought that they would have easy access to other European countries."

Ahmed is also a member of the Voice of International Students (VOIS), an association calling on universities and the authorities to put an end to the duplicitous system of agents. 

Read more: How universities in Cyprus have joined the human trafficking game