Cypriot authorities on Monday intercepted a boat with 80 migrants onboard off the island state’s Eastern shore, the state broadcaster RIK reported.
A police patrol boat was escorting the 12-metre vessel to the port of Larnaca. The nationality of the people on board was not immediately clear but it is presumed that they had set off from Lebanon or Syria.
According to UNHCR, most of the migrants in the Eastern Mediterranean arrive in Greece from Turkey. About 60,000 came in 2019, making it the highest since 2016.
However, around 10,000 also landed in Cyprus in 2019, after some 7,761 in 2018 and 4,582 in 2017 respectively.
Earlier, the Cypriot President, Nicos Anastasiades, appealed for EU assistance for the sheltering of the migrants.
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