Current:Home > InvestCyprus rescues 60 Syrian migrants lost at sea for 6 days. Several have been hospitalized -ValueCore
Cyprus rescues 60 Syrian migrants lost at sea for 6 days. Several have been hospitalized
View
Date:2025-04-16 00:09:18
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — At least four people have been hospitalized after Cypriot police rescued 60 Syrian migrants found aboard a rickety wooden boat some 55 kilometers (34 miles) off the island nation’s southeastern tip, authorities said Wednesday.
They have been at sea for six days.
Police and army helicopters flew the three children and one adult to a hospital after a passing merchant ship notified Cypriot authorities of the boat’s presence off the island’s coast in pre-dawn hours.
Three of the children and one adult seemed to have lost consciousness. Three other adults who had sustained fractures to their lower extremities were treated by officers aboard a patrol vessel that intercepted the migrant boat, police said.
The boat was towed to the harbor where the remaining migrants received medical care.
Authorities said the boat had set sail from Lebanon on Jan. 18 and the migrants appeared to have run short of food and water.
A Lebanese lawyer who follows migrant issues in his country said the boat had gone missing since its departure until it reached Cyprus. He said the migrants were in bad shape because they hadn’t eaten for days.
Lebanon’s coastline is about 168 kilometers (105 miles) from Cyprus.
Although overall migrant arrivals to Cyprus have significantly gone down, arrivals by sea almost quadrupled from 937 in 2022 to 3,889 in 2023, with almost all migrants being Syrian, according to official interior ministry numbers.
In a written statement, Cypriot Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou said Wednesday the boat’s arrival was “unfortunate proof” of how people-smuggling rings were endangering lives by forcing migrants to make the journey aboard unsuitable craft.
Ioannou said it’s for this reason that he had told European Union Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson during her recent visit to Cyprus about the urgent need for the EU to put together a unit composed of Europol members, Lebanese officials and Cypriot police tasked with patroling Lebanon’s borders.
He said he would again suggest that the bloc re-evaluate the safety of certain areas inside Syria to enable the repatriation of Syrian migrants when he meets fellow EU interior ministers in Brussels on Thursday.
—
Follow AP’s coverage of migration issues at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
veryGood! (489)
Related
- Federal court filings allege official committed perjury in lawsuit tied to Louisiana grain terminal
- Sister Wives' Janelle Brown Shares Heartbreaking Message to Son Garrison 6 Months After His Death
- Boeing Starliner to undock from International Space Station: How to watch return to Earth
- Divorce rates are trickier to pin down than you may think. Here's why.
- Tom Holland's New Venture Revealed
- NCAA champions UConn and South Carolina headed to White House to celebrate national titles
- Pivotal August jobs report could ease recession worries. Or fuel them.
- Shop Madewell’s Under $50 Finds & Save Up to 67% on Fall-Ready Styles Starting at $11
- Hackers hit Rhode Island benefits system in major cyberattack. Personal data could be released soon
- Demi Lovato Shares Childhood Peers Signed a Suicide Petition in Trailer for Child Star
Ranking
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
- Report calls for Medicaid changes to address maternal health in Arkansas
- The Deteriorating Environment Is a Public Concern, but Americans Misunderstand Their Contribution to the Problem
- Trump lawyers fight to overturn jury’s finding that he sexually abused E. Jean Carroll
- Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
- As Alex Morgan announces retirement, a look back her storied soccer career
- As Alex Morgan announces retirement, a look back her storied soccer career
- Colt Gray, 14, identified as suspect in Apalachee High School shooting: What we know
Recommendation
B.A. Parker is learning the banjo
More extreme heat plus more people equals danger in these California cities
Inside the Georgia high school where a sleepy morning was pierced by gunfire
Ryan Seacrest vows to keep 'Wheel of Fortune' spinning as new host with Vanna White
What to watch: O Jolie night
Group Therapy Sessions Proliferate for People Afflicted With ‘Eco-Distress’
Kylie Jenner Gives Nod to Her “King Kylie” Era With Blue Hair Transformation
NCAA champions UConn and South Carolina headed to White House to celebrate national titles