Cyprus has seen its fair share of refugee arrivals. And from the looks of it, the island country will also be impacted by the migrant crisis.
In a shocking new reveal, a group of 38 refugees (reportedly Syrians) were found to have unexpectedly arrived on the island country’s northwestern shores on Tuesday – being the 7th such group to have arrived by sea in 2017.
According to the police, the small boat, which was seen approaching the island a few kilometers off the coast carried 33 men, 1 woman and 4 children. The police sent a patrol once the boat carrying the refugees reached 2 nautical miles off the shore. The former then directed the man at the wheel to follow them.
According to some sources, the man, who was probably petrified ignored the directions of the police and did his best to evade them. It was then that that the commander of the local marine police made his message clear by firing two warning shots.
According to the police’s statement, however, said the boat was towed and brought to a small port at the fishing and agricultural community of Kato Pyrgos with very little hassle. The statement made no mention of any warning shots being fired.
The refugees, who were reported to have been at sea for 2 days, were offered food and water by the local authorities and the Social Services department. Then were then transferred to a refugee reception center near Nicosia for due processing.
With the arrival of these refugees, their number in the island country has raised to almost 700 this year. Most of these are Syrians, who arrived on the island after having sailed from Turkey.
