Cyprus Police Rescued 115 Syrian Migrants In Three Days

In three days, Cyprus police have rescued 115 Syrian migrants aboard 3 separate boats, reported the Associated Press.

The first boat police rescued was a small boat with 11 people aboard. Officers found this boat on Saturday. All ten men and one minor had departed from Lebanon. Three men were detained.

The second boat was intercepted by police officers on Sunday. The 40-foot boat on Sunday was 14 miles off Cyprus’ coas and had 86 aboard: 57 men, 6 women and 23 children. All of them had left Lebanon and were taken ashore by police officers and transported to a reception center.

On Monday, Cyprus police rescued their third boat with another 18 migrants after they started sinking three miles off the island’s southern coast. There were 11 men, 3 unescorted minors and 1 woman with her 3 children. After being rescued, the boat sank.

The woman with her children were transported to a hospital after one of her kids fainted.Cyprus’ Interior Ministry said that there has been an increase in arrivals of Syrian migrants through the sea. Despite this, asylum applications have dropped since the government implemented new actions to deter new arrivals, it decided to exclude immigrants who arrived after Jan. 1^st of this year from being eligible for relocation to another country within the European Union.