A major search involving naval helicopters and police boats was underway on Monday for the passengers of a migrant boat that capsized off the coast of Cyprus, officials said.
Authorities said they had found two survivors and seven bodies from the boat that had left Syria, according to Cypriot media.
Public broadcaster CyBC said the ship carrying twenty-one people sank four days ago.
The Larnaca-based Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) initiated a massive search and rescue effort in open waters.
The official statement issued on Monday, March 17, 2025, hinted that the search was “ongoing to locate missing persons after a migrant boat capsized 30 nautical miles (55 kilometres) southeast of Cape Greco,” which is the Mediterranean island’s southeastmost point.
The incident took place outside the nation’s territorial waters, but within its search and rescue jurisdiction, it stated.
The JRCC only cited the statement when the AFP contacted them, stating that the operation was still in progress. The authorities had not yet confirmed the recovery of any bodies.
Police directed questions to the JRCC, which is in charge of organising the rescue.
Credit: Ekathimerini.com
According to the centre, the search for survivors involved several police patrol boats and naval helicopters.
The Cyprus News Agency reports that one survivor informed authorities that the approximately 20 people on board were Syrians who had left Syria’s port of Tartus.
Two people were rescued and seven remains were retrieved, according to CyBC and the Philenews website.
The number of irregular boat entries to Cyprus had already quadrupled, with nearly all of them being Syrians.
Cyprus is an island in the eastern Mediterranean that lies less than 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the shores of Syria and Lebanon. It has long been a destination for refugees looking to escape to Europe in search of a better life.
Despite managing to drastically lower the number, Nicosia has claimed to have the largest number of new asylum seekers per capita in the EU.
The interior ministry reported this month that, as a result of stricter government regulations, irregular maritime immigration had ceased since May 2024, while asylum applications had decreased by 69% between 2022 and 2024.
The Cypriot government was accused by Human Rights Watch in September of forcing Syrian migrants back to Lebanon “without regard to their refugee status or risk of being expelled to Syria.”
Since President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown in December, some Syrians have sought to return home; according to the government, 40 Syrians have done so on average every day.
Additionally, the administration said that, for the first time in Cyprus’ autonomous history, more asylum applicants were departing the country than entering.
