Nine persons were arrested in connection with the arrival of 55 migrants on Tuesday off the coast of Paphos.
According to the Police, four persons were arrested on Tuesday morning in connection with helping illegal immigrants enter the Republic. They were located in two vehicles in the Mansoura area of Nicosia district. During questioning, they did not give adequate explanation as to their presence in the coastal area.
However, it was discovered that family members of two of the suspects were among the 55 migrants who were found by the Police in Kato Pyrgos, on the northwestern coast of Cyprus on Tuesday afternoon.
Police were tipped off about the landing of migrants between Kato Pyrgos and the Turkish occupied Limnitis area on Tuesday afternoon. After an operation, Police found 55 migrants who had arrived by boat in the Turkish occupied north. The 39 men, three women and 13 children were taken to Kato Pyrgos Police Station. During questioning, four of the 39 men were arrested for being illegal immigrants. Another man was also arrested on suspicion of being the trafficker.
The remaining migrants had spent the night in the sports` centre of Kato Pyrgos Elementary School which was adequately prepared by the Civil Defence. Its spokeswoman Olivia Michaelidou told CNA that the migrants had arrived in Cyprus from the Turkish coast. She said they will be taken to Kokkinotrimithia in the Nicosia district later today where a camp has been set up.
Cyprus has been divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion. The island’s northern occupied shores are not far from Turkey’s southern coast and this is not the first time boats, loaded with refugees, have arrived in Cyprus from Turkey.
CNA/KP/DN/EC/MM/2016
ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY