Asylum seekers take Cyprus to ECtHR over alleged pushbacks and abuse
A group of asylum seekers who had been trapped in the buffer zone since last year have taken their case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), accusing Cypriot ...
2024 in review
Buffer zone migrants: months of stress and despondency
I wrote a number of stories in 2024 that meant a lot to me (the one about the growing use of antidepressants was an eye-opener). In the end, though, the one ...
Buffer zone migrant struggle ends after six months
All migrants who were stranded in the buffer zone have been removed from the site, the deputy migration ministry confirmed on Saturday, putting an end to months of wrangling.
A ...
The migrant guinea pigs in Cyprus’ buffer zone
Mention migrants, and you’re likely to be met with hostility. Everyone’s tired of the subject. Still, the asylum seekers who’ve been stuck in the UN buffer zone ...
Govt denies carrying out pushbacks, after ECHR decision
The government on Wednesday denied carrying out pushbacks, arguing its migration policy is in line with EU and international law.
Its defence came a day after a damning European Court ...
Police bar migrants from crossing buffer zone
Migrants stranded in the buffer zone made a ‘tepid’ attempt to enter the Republic of Cyprus on Monday but were stopped by police.
According to Menelaos Savva, community leader of ...
Ministries working together to decide next steps on buffer zone fencing
The deputy migration ministry and the justice ministry are working together to decide the next steps on the barbed wire fencing along the Green line, it emerged on Wednesday.
Speaking ...
Legal service dealing with migrant pushback lawsuit
The European Commission on Thursday stressed that Cyprus has an obligation to provide access to asylum proceedings, as 70 migrants remain stranded in the buffer zone, unable to apply for asylum ...
Our View: Standoff over buffer zone migrants risks UN relations
While the government’s initial stance about the migrants stranded in the buffer zone was justifiable, as time goes by it is becoming more difficult to defend. It is leading ...
Govt and UN clash over migrant pushback claims
The government on Friday took a tough line against accusations from the UN that it was carrying out migrant pushbacks within the buffer zone, calling the statements unhelpful in resolving ...
Cyprus accused of migrant pushbacks
A total of 25 migrants have been forcibly removed from territories of the Republic and taken to the buffer zone against their will, while being denied access to asylum procedures, the ...
Stranded migrants suffering depression and hopelessness
A young boy sits on the ground at the back of the tent, immobile, unresponsive, with his back to us.
“He’s my son, but he has depression,” explains his ...