Police said on Friday that 15 citizens of the Democratic Republic of the Congo had been compulsorily repatriated on an airplane chartered by the Belgian authorities.

It said the airplane had landed at Larnaca Airport on Wednesday to pick up the 15 and transport them home. They were in custody in Cyprus for illegal entry to the Republic, police added.

The operation was coordinated by the department of migration with the participation also of the Belgian authorities and Frontex, the EU’s border agency.