Two boats carrying 146 Syrian refugees reached waters off Cape Greco on the southern tip of Cyprus last Saturday afternoon (February 24). Police spotted the boats and escorted the passengers ashore, later taking them to the Pournara reception center outside the capital Nicosia.

During questioning, the refugees reportedly identified two men aged 19 and 21 as the boat drivers. The men – both Lebanese nationals – were remanded for six days.

One of the boats was carrying 30 people, while the second had 117 migrants, mostly men, on board. There were 28 children traveling in the two boats.

The migrants had set off from Tripoli in Lebanon on Thursday. According to police, they each paid around €2,300 to an unknown person in Lebanon for a place on board.

Also read: Cyprus: Child dies after drifting in Mediterranean for days

Alleged driver 17 years old

There has recently been a string of such incidents in Cyprus. Earlier this month, four boats carrying Syrian refugees from Lebanon arrived within two days. Authorities arrested and detained those alleged to have been driving the boats, according to media reports.

One of those arrested was a 17-year-old boy who was charged with offenses including illegally entering and facilitating the illegal entry of persons with the intent or purpose of obtaining profit, as well as transporting a person in an unsafe or overloaded vessel, the Cyprus Mail reported.

However, amid an increase in arrests in "hand on the tiller" cases against alleged migrant smugglers, Cyprus MP and internationally renowned expert on human trafficking, Rita Superman, has warned against charging the drivers of migrant boats with people smuggling.

"A smuggler is one who organizes a trip and has a network in the destination and departure country, not the driver of the boat," the Cyprus Mail quotes Superman as saying.

She added that those who take responsibility for driving boats are often migrants who do so in return for paying less for their own passage.

Also read: Greece: Migrant accused of smuggling sentenced to 146 years in prison

Steps to prevent Syrian arrivals

Cyprus is redoubling its efforts to limit asylum seekers in its territory.

While there was an overall drop in the number of migrants reaching Cyprus last year, compared with the year before, authorities are concerned about how many are now coming from Syria and Lebanon – a figure which increased 355%, from 937 in 2022 to 4,259 in 2023.

The interior minister, Constantinos Ioannou, recently announced that the government has asked Europol to help patrol the Lebanese coastline to prevent departures of mainly Syrian refugees.

Earlier this month President Nikos Christodoulides urged the EU to consider designating some parts of Syria as safe zones to which refugees and migrants could be returned.

Also read: Syrian refugees caught up in Cyprus-Lebanon spat

In 2023, 11,000 people were returned to their home counties from Cyprus, making it the first EU state to have had more returns than arrivals. Around two-thirds of the returns were reported as voluntary repatriations. 

Announcing the figures at the end of last year, Ioannou said the government’s tough migration policy had paid off, making the island nation a "less attractive economic destination" for migrants.

The Cyprus administration has long complained that the countries of the Mediterranean, including Cyprus, have faced the greatest pressure from refugees and migrants and has called on other EU nations to share the burden.

With AP