The fear of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas spreading throughout the region has authorities in Nicosia on red alert over a possible mass departure of refugees from Lebanon to Cyprus.
And this was something the fledgling National Security Council discussed in detail in Tuesday’s meeting, Philenews reports.
Analysts said Lebanon, unlike Egypt, has so far not shown any willingness to detain people attempting to flee either to Cyprus, which is the closest distance, or to other areas.
Egypt has a large number of migrants and refugees on its territory, but has managed to contain them by preventing mass migratory flows.
At the same time, Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides told journalists that what concerns the government is expected arrivals of refugees from Lebanon.
“We are particularly concerned about the situation in Lebanon. There are too many Syrian refugees there, already the situation in Lebanon is difficult, you understand that as things stand today and if the situation does not improve, we will clearly have a higher risk (of mass arrivals),” he also said.
The President said Nicosia is in contact with the Lebanese government trying to address the whole issue. Afterall, the call for evacuation of civilians and for assistance is stronger now than in 2006 when there was a crisis in Lebanon.
