Authorities are continuing search operations as weather permits for potential survivors from a capsized vessel carrying Syrian migrants, located 24 nautical miles off the island’s coast.
The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) is pressing ahead with efforts to locate remaining individuals who, according to witness testimonies, were aboard the boat that capsized.
Search operations are being periodically suspended due to adverse weather conditions, with winds reaching seven on the Beaufort scale in some areas, making maritime rescue efforts potentially hazardous.
Helicopter aerial searches are being conducted today, covering an extensive area but yielding no results thus far. Simultaneously, coastline inspections are underway to locate potential survivors or bodies.
The likelihood of finding survivors is diminishing, though efforts will continue. Authorities have instructed that searches be conducted whenever conditions permit, while maintaining communication with Lebanese authorities.
Alongside maritime operations, police continue their investigation to determine whether the vessel carrying the two survivors is the same boat reportedly missing since last Friday, as claimed by the humanitarian organisation Alarm Phone. The last known position of that vessel was reportedly near where the survivors and bodies were found.
Confirmation will come from DNA tests comparing samples from relatives living in Cyprus with the recovered bodies. If matches are established, it would indicate the same shipwreck about which conflicting information regarding the departure location had been reported.
Post-mortem examinations were conducted today on three additional bodies discovered last Monday at sea, with findings matching those from examinations of four other bodies—death by drowning while at sea.
Cyprus migrant boat disaster
On March 17, a boat carrying more than 20 migrants from Syria capsized off Cyprus. Authorities have rescued two people while seven bodies have been recovered. More than 11 are still unaccounted for.
The NGO Alarm Phone reported receiving calls for help for the boat in distress as early as March 16 and expressed concerns that pushbacks might have taken place.
According to AlphaNews, survivors’ testimonies said that Cyprus authorities had fired warning shots into the sea while ordering the people on the boats to turn back.
AlphaNews reported that authorities boarded the boats, handcuffed the passengers and confiscated their mobile phones, while some were beaten.
Cypriot opposition parties have called for a probe into the claims.
What is a pushback
The term “pushback” refers to measures taken by states to forcibly return migrants, including asylum seekers, to the country from which they attempted to cross or have crossed an international border, without access to international protection or asylum procedures, or without any individual assessment of their protection needs.
Such actions often violate international laws, including the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits returning individuals to countries where they may face persecution. Pushbacks can occur both at land and sea borders.
Cyprus accused of pushbacks
Cyprus has faced accusations of conducting pushbacks against migrants and asylum seekers. In July 2024, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that Cypriot authorities forcibly removed 25 migrants from government-controlled areas to the buffer zone, denying them access to asylum procedures. The Cypriot government denied these allegations, asserting that no such pushbacks occurred.
Additionally, in October 2024, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Cyprus violated the rights of two Syrian asylum seekers by preventing them from applying for asylum and returning them to Lebanon without processing their claims. The court found this action amounted to degrading treatment.
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