The Cypriot security authorities have discovered a boat with around 80 refugees around 20 nautical miles east of the Mediterranean island. As the media reported today, the approximately twelve-meter-long boat was to be brought to the port of Larnaka. A police patrol boat accompanied the boat, it said.
Where the people came from was initially unclear. The authorities suspected that they had started in Syria or Lebanon, the state television reported. According to police, almost 10,000 refugees were picked up on the island last year. In 2016 there were 2,936; In 2017 the number rose to 4,582 and in 2018 to 7,761. Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiades has already asked for help from the European Union.
