The UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) expressed on Wednesday concern over the health of a group of asylum seekers stranded in the UN buffer zone in Nicosia.
In a statement, UNFICYP spokesperson Aleem Siddique said that they were “concerned for the health and welfare of the asylum seekers, including many women, children, currently stranded inside the UN buffer zone”.
With rising summer temperatures in Cyprus, they are facing increasingly difficult conditions, he added.
Siddique noted that, while UNFICYP was working closely with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to provide immediate humanitarian assistance including food, water, shelter and medical assistance for the most vulnerable people, “these people need access to asylum procedures as provided for under national, EU and international law”.
The government said on Monday that 27 migrants remain in the buffer zone in Nicosia and are assisted by the UNFICYP.
In response to rising migrant arrivals, Cyprus has suspended the processing of asylum applications from Syrian nationals and called on the EU to classify Syria as a safe country of origin.
No legal basis
Cyprus Refugee Council coordinator Corina Drousiotou told in-cyprus that there is no legal basis for excluding a specific nationality from asylum applications.
She explained that a similar measure was tried during the administration of Nicos Anastasiades, but failed to bring any results.
“This measure was also tried in 2022, during the previous government, and did not bring forward results, as it did not reduce the arrivals of Syrian nationals”.
The U.N. human rights office stated earlier this year that based on evidence it has gathered, Syrian refugees who fled the ongoing Syrian civil war are facing gross human rights violations such as torture and abduction on their return to Syria, while women are subject to sexual harassment and violence.
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