In an extensive coordinated operation carried out in the last three days of August, police in the north arrested a total of 134 people for illegally residence.

According to Turkish Cypriot news outlet Yeni Duzen, 37 of the arrests were carried out in Nicosia, Kioneli and Trachonas.

Detainees included third-country nationals from countries including Bangladesh, Liberia and Pakistan. One of the migrants, a Zambian national arrested in Kioneli, was found to have been illegally residing in the north for almost 11 years – since November 2014.

Other arrests concerned four individuals from Nigeria and Sudan who stayed in the north illegally for periods ranging from 86 days to more than three and a half years.

The operations had been carried out in several facilities accommodating workers, as well as inns and entertainment venues.