
-
British band Muse cancels planned Istanbul gig
-
'I'll be back' vows Haaland after injury blow
-
Trump to unveil 'Liberation Day' tariffs as world braces
-
New coach Edwards adamant England can win women's cricket World Cup
-
Military confrontation 'almost inevitable' if Iran nuclear talks fail: French FM
-
US stocks advance ahead of looming Trump tariffs
-
Scramble for food aid in Myanmar city near quake epicentre
-
American Neilson Powless fools Visma to win Across Flanders
-
NATO chief says alliance with US 'there to stay'
-
Myanmar junta declares quake ceasefire as survivors plead for aid
-
American Neilson Powless fools Visma to win Around Flanders
-
Tesla first quarter sales sink amid anger over Musk politics
-
World's tiniest pacemaker is smaller than grain of rice
-
Judge dismisses corruption case against NY mayor
-
Nintendo to launch Switch 2 console on June 5
-
France Le Pen eyes 2027 vote, says swift appeal 'good news'
-
Postecoglou hopes Pochettino gets Spurs return wish
-
US, European stocks fall as looming Trump tariffs raise fears
-
Nintendo says Switch 2 console to be launched on June 5
-
France's Zemmour fined 10,000 euros over claim WWII leader 'saved' Jews
-
Le Pen ally denies planned rally a 'power play' against conviction
-
Letsile Tebogo says athletics saved him from life of crime
-
Man Utd 'on right track' despite 13th Premier League defeat: Dalot
-
Israel says expanding Gaza offensive to seize 'large areas'
-
Certain foreign firms must 'self-certify' with Trump diversity rules: US embassies
-
Deutsche Bank asset manager DWS fined 25 mn euros for 'greenwashing'
-
UK drawing up new action plan to tackle rising TB
-
Nigerian president sacks board of state oil company
-
Barca never had financial room to register Olmo: La Liga
-
Spain prosecutors to appeal ruling overturning Alves' rape conviction
-
Heathrow 'warned about power supply' days before shutdown
-
Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre 'stable' after car crash
-
Myanmar quake survivors plead for more help
-
Greece to spend 25 bn euros in 'drastic' defence overhaul: PM
-
Maresca non-committal over Sancho's future at Chelsea
-
WHO facing $2.5-bn gap even after slashing budget: report
-
Real Madrid coach Ancelotti tells tax trial did not seek to defraud
-
Chinese tourists pine for Taiwan's return as Beijing jets surround island
-
Singapore detains teenage boy allegedly planning to kill Muslims
-
What is the 'Qatargate' scandal roiling Israel?
-
AI coming for anime but Ghibli's Miyazaki irreplaceable, son says
-
Swedish insurer drops $160 mn Tesla stake over labour rights
-
Hunger returns to Gaza as Israeli blockade forces bakeries shut
-
Rubio heads to Europe as transatlantic tensions soar
-
Like 'living in hell': Quake-hit Mandalay monastery clears away rubble
-
'Give me a break': Trump tariffs threaten Japan auto sector
-
US approves $5.58 bn fighter jet sale to Philippines
-
Tsunoda embracing pressure of Red Bull debut at home Japanese GP
-
'Outstanding' Hay shines as New Zealand seal Pakistan ODI series
-
El Salvador's Bukele flaunts 'iron fist' alliance with Trump
RIO | -0.74% | 59.79 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.43% | 22.537 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.18% | 22.78 | $ | |
SCS | 0.8% | 11.411 | $ | |
NGG | -0.09% | 65.72 | $ | |
BCC | 2.09% | 101.02 | $ | |
RBGPF | 0% | 68 | $ | |
AZN | -0.17% | 72.475 | $ | |
GSK | -1.18% | 37.43 | $ | |
RYCEF | -1.82% | 9.87 | $ | |
JRI | 0.21% | 13.007 | $ | |
BCE | -4.38% | 21.825 | $ | |
BP | -0.12% | 33.77 | $ | |
BTI | -2.76% | 39.995 | $ | |
RELX | 0.42% | 50.885 | $ | |
VOD | -1.71% | 9.114 | $ |

Cyprus minister pins blame for migration 'emergency' on Turkey
The small Mediterranean island of Cyprus has an outsized problem with irregular migration, says the interior minister of the EU member state located closest to the Middle East.
"For us, this is a state of emergency," Nicos Nouris told AFP, adding that 4.6 percent of the country's population now are asylum seekers or beneficiaries of protection, the highest ratio in the EU.
The Greek Cypriot minister accused Turkey, whose troops have since 1974 occupied the island's northern third, of encouraging much of the influx of Syrian refugees and arrivals from sub-Saharan Africa.
Rights groups and observers have criticised Cyprus for squalid conditions in its overcrowded main migrant camp, which was rocked by clashes this month, and for alleged brutal treatment of some arrivals.
But Nouris shot back that "brutal is what Turkey has been doing to us" as new asylum applications had multiplied to over 13,000 last year in the country of 850,000.
"The migration issue in Cyprus is a huge problem because it's been instrumentalised by Turkey," the minister from the conservative Democratic Rally party charged.
The Republic of Cyrus remains sharply at odds with Turkey, which under a deal with the EU hosts millions of Syrian refugees, and which contests potential offshore oil and gas reserves claimed by Cyprus.
Nouris charged that every day some 60 to 80 irregular migrants, guided by smugglers, cross the UN-patrolled 184-kilometre (114-mile) long Green Line that dissects the island, with 85 percent of asylum seekers last year having arrived in this way.
- 'Trapped on island' -
The top country of origin for pending asylum applications in 2021 remained Syria, but next came Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Somalia, according to the ministry.
Many of the newcomers, Nouris said, fly via Istanbul to the northern breakaway statelet recognised only by Ankara. "From there, with the smugglers, they find a way through the Green Line."
It is only once they have crossed south that many discover they are not inside the European Union's visa-free Schengen area.
"They are trapped on the island," said Nouris. "They cannot travel to Germany or to France, where they want to go, because Cyprus is not a member of the Schengen zone."
Cyprus stresses that the Green Line is not a border but merely the ceasefire line, beyond which lie "areas not under government control".
Nonetheless, said Nouris, his government -- having recently fortified one section of the line with razor wire -- will soon build fencing, step up patrols and, from the summer, install an Israeli-made surveillance system.
The head of EU border agency Frontex, Fabrice Leggeri, is due to visit Cyprus Wednesday, the minister said.
Nouris said Cyprus would like Frontex to patrol waters south of Turkey, "from where every night, especially during summertime, we had illegal departures of migrants" -- but he acknowledged that this would require Ankara's approval.
- Migrant camp violence -
Cyprus is also asking the EU to expand the list of so-called safe countries of origin for migrants, and to strike deals to facilitate repatriations.
Nicosia recently sent back more than 250 Vietnamese migrants on a special flight, and cooperated with Belgium to repatriate 17 Congolese.
A joint flight with Germany is planned for March 8 to take back a group of Pakistanis, Nouris said, in what would be a "forced" rather than voluntary return.
Human Rights Watch and other groups have accused Cyprus of sometimes heavy-handed methods against migrants, including pushing back asylum seekers at sea.
Nouris insisted that "Cyprus has never, never made a pushback" but had exercised its right to intercept boats, which were usually escorted to Lebanon.
A flashpoint site of the Cyprus migration issue has been the Pournara reception centre outside Nicosia, where tents and prefabricated structures initially set up for several hundred people now house around 2,500.
Tensions exploded last week into violence involving Nigerian, Congolese and Somali men, leaving dozens injured. Police were also searching for a 15-year-old boy accused of stabbing a 17-year-old.
The incident proved that Cyprus needs EU "solidarity" and assistance, said Nouris.
"In a place that is overcrowded with so many people, and especially so many nationalities, it's something that was expected," he said.
T.Sanchez--AT