Cyprus sentences Syrian man for bringing migrants aboard an overloaded boat

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A Cyprus court has sentenced a Syrian national to five years in prison for helping 31 Syrian migrants reach the east Mediterranean island nation aboard an overloaded boat, the attorney general’s office said Monday.

Stepped-up prosecutions and swift legal proceedings have contributed to a precipitous drop in the number of migrants reaching Cyprus after a government pledge to tackle the issue. It became a key issue during the 2023 presidential election.

The office said in a statement that the Syrian man, a migrant himself, was convicted on three charges including people trafficking and aiding migrants to enter Cyprus.

The court ruled that he struck a deal with traffickers to captain the boat from an unnamed Syrian port in exchange for not having to pay the fee for the journey. The statement didn’t say when the boat reached ethnically divided Cyprus.

According to the ruling, the man received training on how to operate the boat and was in radio contact with another trafficker who instructed him on the route.

“With his actions, the accused, without any hesitation, made himself an active part of a group taking advantage of people,” the court said.

Such acts need to be dealt with severely because of their increasing frequency, the court said.

Syria is about 108 miles (173 kilometers) from European Union member Cyprus’ southeastern corner.

The United Nations’ refugee agency has accused Cyprus of continuing to engage in pushbacks at sea, which the Cypriot government denies.

According to statistics from the attorney general’s office, the international protection administrative court last year adjudicated 4,534 cases of which 63 — or 1.38% — were successful. Twenty-five of those migrants were granted refugee status and four received international protection. The court upheld the status for another 25 and ordered a retrial for the remaining eight.

___

Follow migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration