Draft:Pushbacks by Cyprus

Pushbacks have been carried by the Government of the Republic of Cyprus as official policy and have been announced as such. Pushbacks are illegal under International Law based on the non refoulement principle.

In 2023 Cyprus reached an agreement with Lebanon, so that it could sent back the ships arriving from Lebanon. A bilateral agreement between the two countries was reached first in 2004. According to senior Interior Ministry official Loizos Hadjivasiliou, the agreement obligates Lebanon to prevent and stop illegal border crossings and illegal migration of individuals who depart from Lebanon. Hadjivasiliou told the Associated Press these individuals are returned to Lebanon, which is deemed safe and where they enjoy benefits afforded to the hundreds of thousands of refugees in the country. “Under these circumstances, we believe that they don’t face any danger and their choice to set sail toward a European Union member country is being made for clearly economic reasons.” Hadjivasiliou said in line with the bilateral agreement, Cypriot authorities don’t process migrants’ asylum claims because their arrival is “clearly a matter of illegal trespass.”

“The Cyprus Republic is in no way implicated in pushbacks and never refuses assistance in case of a search and rescue operation to first and foremost protect human lives,” Hadjivasiliou said.

Cypriot Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou traveled to Lebanon last month for talks with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Azmi Mikati and other top officials to ensure that the bilateral agreement remains in effect and to bolster cooperation on stemming migrant arrivals.

https://www.philenews.com/kipros/koinonia/article/1362385/piso-sto-livano-36-atomon-pou-ichan-afichthi-stin-kipro/

https://www.alphanews.live/cyprus/polemos-meta-taxidi-efialtis-astynomikon-kai-metanaston-ston-libano

https://www.alphanews.live/cyprus/eikones-ntropis-hamo-sto-katastroma-80-astynomikoi-kai-73-metanastes-gia-libano

https://www.philenews.com/kipros/astinomika/article/1360435/apanta-se-katangelia-isotitas-i-astinomia-gia-epichirisi-epanaproothisis-metanaston/

https://www.philenews.com/sizitiete/article/1460057/neo-metro-gia-to-metanasteftiko-peripolies-tis-limenikis-anikta-tou-livanou-gia-anakopi-skafon/

Incident
The people on board the ships were not given their right to apply for asylum. Instead they were forced to travel back to Lebanon, sometimes in the same boats that they came, that where in a very bad state.

The 109 Syrian nationals had all reached Cyprus aboard three separate boats between 29 July and 2 August, before being returned by boat under Cyprus police escort.

Lisa Abou Khaled, a spokesperson for the UNHCR office in Lebanon, told the Associated Press that most all 109 migrants that were returned from Cyprus were deported to Syria after being investigated by the Lebanese army.

https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/50731/cyprus-returns-70-migrants-to-lebanon

In February 2024 116 Syrian refugees were rescued from the coast of Cyprus, from a ship registered in Lebanon. But the Lebanese government refused to take them back.

https://www.philenews.com/kipros/koinonia/article/1460613/telos-sto-thriler-anachorisan-pros-agnosto-proorismo-i-5-varkes-me-tous-500-metanastes/

Reactions
UNHCR said it was “extremely concerned” over the return of more than 100 Syrian nationals from Cyprus to Lebanon without being screened to determine whether they need legal protection and who may be deported back to their war-wracked homeland. The UNHCR office in Cyprus said deportations and transfers between states “without legal and procedural safeguards for persons who may be in need of international protection” are against international and European law. Such transfers could result in people sent back to a country where “they may face the risk of persecution, torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and other irreparable harm,” the agency told the Associated Press.