A statement on Tuesday (March 18) by the Joint Rescue Coordination Center(JRCC) based in Larnaca, Cyprus, that was coordinating the search, said that operations continued during the night, but "without any new findings."

The JRCC added that a helicopter, boats, and an unmanned aerial vehicle from Cyprus' National Guard, along with another helicopter, MAEP and Port Police vessels, nurses from the ambulance service, and police personnel were all involved in the search. In addition, helicopters from the 84th squadron and passing commercial ships participated in the operation.

The organization issued a statement, stating that the incident had occurred with the country’s search and rescue responsibility, but outside its territorial waters. Search operations and investigations are due to continue throughout the day, stated the JRCC.

Read Also'Hasty repatriation of refugees from Syria must be avoided' says Council of Europe

Around 20 people believed to have been on board

On Tuesday, the JRCC confirmed that so far, two survivors have been recovered and seven dead were found. According to the news agency Reuters, the boat capsized about 30 nautical miles south-east of Cyprus on Monday. The search and rescue operation included naval helicopters and police boats, reported the French news agency Agence France Presse (AFP).

The migrant boat was initially located around midday, reports Reuters, and is believed to have set off from Tartous in Syria with about 20 or 21 migrants on board. Cyprus’ public broadcaster CyBC reported that the ship had already sunk four days ago, with all 21 people on board, added AFP. The exact circumstances surrounding the incident remain unclear, reports dpa.

Cyprus Justice Minister Marios Hartziotis told reporters on Monday (March 17): "There is elevated vigilance from port police and today’s incident with [discovering] the first survivor was completely by chance."

Read AlsoEurope's rights watchdog calls on Cyprus to admit migrants trapped in UN buffer zone

Family members alerted Alarmphone

According to the organization Alarmphone, which monitors migrant journeys towards Europe, relatives of some of those believed to have been on board contacted Alarmphone late on Saturday (March 15), saying that the boat was already in distress and offering the coordinates of the last known location of the boat.

Posting on the social media platform X over the weekend, Alarmphone said they had not been able to reach the people on board the boat since their relatives first contacted them.

Alarmphone said that the incident occurred just off Cape Greco in Cyprus and shared a map with a pin marking the group’s last known position. On March 17, the organization posted again on X, saying they were worried about their inability to contact the group, and stating that neither the Lebanese nor the Cypriot authorities could provide any information as to the whereabouts of the group. "We are worried! Where are they?" they asked, adding that they feared that "a pushback is in the making." And calling on the Cypriot authorities to carry out a rescue operation.

Cyprus is located around 100 nautical miles west of the Lebanese and Syrian coasts at its shortest crossing points.

Read AlsoLebanon, Cyprus: Syrian refugees pushed back to danger in Syria, rights watchdog claims

'Stop deportations to Lebanon and Syria'

According to Alarmphone, around 80 people crossed to Cyprus on three boats last week and were "brought to a camp in Cyprus." Alarmphone posted about the group on March 14, saying that they were worried the people were about to be deported to Lebanon.

Alarmphone claimed that they also weren’t able to directly contact this group and that their relatives were worried they were about to be deported. The campaign group called on the Cypriot authorities to "stop all deportations to Lebanon."

On March 16, Alarmphone claimed that according to relatives of those who had arrived in Cyprus, the group was "forced back by Cypriot authorities to Syria, where just last week deadly massacres and violent escalations took place." Alarmphone, in its post on X, underlined that in their opinion, Syria still could not be considered safe and that no one should be deported to Syria.

However, last year, Cypriot authorities suspended the processing of asylum claims from Syrians in Cyprus. They also announced that many of those on the island had withdrawn their claims following the fall of former leader Bashar al-Assad, who went into exile in Russia in December 2024.

Since Assad left power, the Cypriot government reports on average that 40 Syrians per day were returning home, states AFP.

Read AlsoUN urges Cyprus to start asylum process for migrants in buffer zone

Missing in the eastern Mediterranean

In February, the Cypriot government said that irregular maritime arrivals had almost stopped since May 2024, due to "tougher government policies." Overall, the Cyprus Interior Ministry confirmed that the number of asylum applications had dropped 69 percent between 2022 and 2024 in the island Republic.

According to the UN Missing Migrants’ project figures about those who are missing and died, 175 migrants died on the eastern Mediterranean route last year, but the actual number of deaths could be much higher since no one knows how many boats may have set off, or who might have been lost en route.

Since the beginning of this year, at least 16 migrants have been recorded missing on the eastern Mediterranean route, with the last recorded incident dating from March 12. If all those who may have been on board this latest boat are found or remain missing, that figure could more than double.

With AFP, dpa and Reuters