More than 100 Migrants Reach British RAF base in Cyprus

Authorities said there were about 140 people travelling in the two vessels, including women and children.

The status of migrant arrivals on the British bases was not immediately clear.

Britain and Cyprus have failed to agree over which country would be responsible for resettling a large group of Syrian refugees whose fishing boats washed up on a United Kingdom airbase in Cyprus on Wednesday (22 October).

“Under the terms of the 2003 memorandum of understanding signed between the Republic of Cyprus and the United Kingdom, asylum seekers arriving directly onto the SBA [Sovereign Base Area] are the responsibility of the United Kingdom but they would be granted access to services in the Republic at the cost of the SBA”, the UNHCR said in a statement.

Due to an historic agreement whereby refugees who land at the British base are handed over to Cypriot authorities, Cyprus has assumed responsibility for them. The Cyprus Interior Ministry mentioned that it is consulting with the British High Commission on the matter.

In 1998, a ramshackle fishing boat crammed with 75 migrants landed at Akrotiri.

In what was meant to be a temporary measure, they were provided with weekly welfare allowances but 17 years on, 21 of them remain on the base. There is at least 150 miles of ocean between the base, on the southern coast of the island, and the Syrian shoreline.

Cyprus has largely been left untouched by the refugee crisis because of its geographical isolation from the rest of Europe.

RAF Akrotiri is one of two sovereign territories retained by Britain on Cyprus, a British colony until 1960.

More than 600,000 migrants have arrived in the European Union by boat over the course of 2015 – around 475,000 landing in Greece and 137,000 in Italy – according to figures from the worldwide Organisation for Migration.

RAF Akrotiri has been used for bombing missions against the Islamic State terror group in Iraq and the MoD said the migrant crisis underlines the importance of providing humanitarian assistance in the Middle East.