NICOSIA: Two Syrian men were remanded in police custody Saturday for suspected people smuggling after 16 Syrian migrants were rescued after their rubber boat sank off Cyprus, authorities said.
It was the second such incident in as many days.
Police said the suspects, aged 45 and 46, would remain in custody for four days while the investigation continues.
Authorities said they had received information that a boat was in distress 12 nautical miles off the island’s southeastern tip at Cape Greco, near the tourist resort of Ayia Napa, on Friday.
Marine police rescued the migrants who were aboard the craft and brought them safely to shore after their boat took on water and sank, the search and rescue center said.
Police said the migrants are in good health and were taken to a migrant reception center outside the capital Nicosia.
Friday’s incident was the second day in a row that Cyprus emergency services rescue migrants at sea in the Capo Greco area which is about 160 kilometers (100 miles) west of Syria.
Those rescued on Thursday evening were 18 irregular migrants on a wooden boat and another 27 aboard an inflatable craft. They had also come from war-torn Syria.
The eastern Mediterranean island’s Joint Rescue Coordination Center said it had brought ashore 29 men, five women and 11 children who had been afloat off Cape Greco.
Two people, aged 20 and 18, were arrested on suspicion of navigating the two boats.
Cypriot authorities say there has been a rise in migrants arriving by boat, with a 60 percent increase recorded in the first five months of 2023 compared with last year.
They say most migrants arriving on boats set out from the port of Tartus in Syria, which has been ravaged more than a decade of war, although fighting has subsided since 2020.
Cyprus last year registered the European Union’s highest number of first-time asylum applicants per capita.
Cyprus arrests two in new people smuggling operation
https://arab.news/rrrvn
Cyprus arrests two in new people smuggling operation
- It was the second such incident in as many days
- Police said the suspects, aged 45 and 46, would remain in custody for four days while the investigation continues
Ceasefire with Kurdish-led force extended for another 15 days, Syrian army says
- The defense ministry said the extension was in support of an operation by US forces to transfer accused Daesh militants to Iraq
- The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces confirmed the ceasefire extension
RAQQA, Syria: Hours after the expiration of a four-day truce between the Syrian government and Kurdish-led fighters Saturday, Syria’s defense ministry announced the ceasefire had been extended by another 15 days.
The defense ministry said in a statement that the extension was in support of an operation by US forces to transfer accused Daesh militants who had been held in prisons in northeastern Syria to detention centers in Iraq.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces confirmed the ceasefire extension.
“Our forces affirm their commitment to the agreement and their dedication to respecting it, which contributes to de-escalation, the protection of civilians, and the creation of the necessary conditions for stability,” the group said in a statement.
Over the past three weeks, there have been intense clashes between government forces and the SDF, in which the SDF lost large parts of the area they once controlled.
Earlier in the day, the Kurdish-led force called on the international community to prevent any escalation.
The end of the truce came as government forces have been sending reinforcements to Syria’s northeast.
Syria’s interim government signed an agreement last March with the SDF for it to hand over territory and to eventually merge its fighters with government forces. In early January, a new round of talks failed to make progress over the merger, leading to renewed fighting between the two sides.
A new version of the accord was signed last weekend, and a four-day ceasefire was declared Tuesday. Part of the new deal is that SDF members will have to merge into the army and police forces as individuals.
The SDF said in a statement Saturday that military buildups and logistical movements by government forces have been observed, “clearly indicating an intent to escalate and push the region toward a new confrontation.” The SDF said it will continue to abide by the truce.
On Saturday, state TV said authorities on Saturday released 126 boys under the age of 18 who were held at the Al-Aqtan prison near the northern city of Raqqa that was taken by government forces Friday. The teenagers were taken to the city of Raqqa where they were handed over to their families, the TV station said.
The prison is also home to some of the 9,000 members of the Daesh group who are held in northeastern Syria. Most of them remain held in jails run by the SDF. Government forces have so far taken control of two prisons while the rest are still run by the SDF.
Earlier this week, the US military said that some 7,000 Daesh detainees will be transferred to detention centers in neighboring Iraq.
On Wednesday, the US military said that 150 prisoners have been taken to Iraq.
