Lebanon refuses Cyprus's request to return Syrian refugees coming by sea

Lebanon refused to receive a boat carrying Syrian refugees on Monday that had attempted to cross into Cyprus, a reversal of policy between the two countries, which allows the country to return migrants who depart from Lebanon.

Cyprus attempted to return 116 Syrian refugees who had departed from Lebanon by boat two days earlier but were refused entry into Lebanese territorial waters. Cyprus then allowed the Syrians to enter the country.

The two countries signed a bilateral agreement in 2020, which allows Cyprus to return any migrants who left Lebanon for the Cypriot island through "irregular routes".

Rights groups have criticised the agreement for being tantamount to a "pushback", especially as Syrians who leave via unofficial means could be deported back to Syria, which is understood not to be safe. 

Cyprus has returned multiple migrant ships to Lebanon under the terms of the agreement, but until Monday, it had not made any returns since September 2023.

On Tuesday, 13 February, the Cypriot Ministry of Interior told Agence France-Presse that it did not know why migrants were not allowed to disembark but was in continuous communication with Lebanon.

Lebanon has refused a Cypriot request to return a boat only once before, in the fall of 2021, as it claimed Cyprus attempted to send it a boat of Syrians who departed from Syria —not from Lebanon.

Spokespersons for both the Lebanese Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publishing.

The boat of 116 refugees was blocked from entering Cypriot waters by authorities and left stranded in the water, according to Doros Polykarpou, the founder of the Cypriot refugee rights NGO KISA.

Passengers on the boat reached out to Alarm Phone, a hotline for migrants at sea in the Mediterranean, which urged the Cypriot coast guard to let them through. According to the Cypriot Interior Ministry, the group was "rescued" on Sunday by the Cypriot coast guard.

🆘️ from ~120 people in distress close to #Cyprus!

We are in contact with this group who are close to the island but who report being blocked from continuing their journey by the coast guard. Blocking boats at sea risks the lives of all on board: stop these cruel games now! pic.twitter.com/93LQetBvsb

— @alarmphone (@alarm_phone) February 11, 2024

Cyprus has faced a rise in attempted crossings by migrants coming from Lebanon and Syria.

In 2023, there was a 355 per cent increase in boat crossings from Syria and Lebanon as compared to the year prior —though the total number of migrant arrivals decreased.

Cyprus has the highest number of asylum seekers per capita in the European Union, with most of them originating from Syria.

The country has called for increased EU funding to Lebanon so that it can better patrol its maritime border with Cyprus, calling Lebanon a "barrier" preventing migrants seeking to enter Europe.

On Monday, Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides said that it and other EU countries are attempting to get the EU to designate certain parts of Syria as safe zones so that Syrian refugees can be returned.

"There are areas in Syria in which we must examine whether they are safe and, by extension, enable the return of migrants from those specific areas," Christodoulides said.

Rights groups have said that war-torn Syria is not safe for refugee returns, pointing to returnees who have faced arbitrary disappearance, torture and even death at the hands of authorities.