A spokesman for the British Bases in Cyprus said the migrants were taken today by buses from the Akrotiri Base next to the southern city of Limassol to "a temporary transit facility" at Britain's second base at Dhekelia close to the city of Larnaca.
The spokesman said the base at Dhekelia will provide more suitable accommodation, as the Akrotiri air base is used by RAF Tornados for their daily sorties against Islamic State forces in northern Iraq.
"The UK government has been clear that it will not allow a new migrant route to open up to the UK," the spokesman said in a statement, intoning Cameron's words.
He said the migrants have been put up in lodgings outside the perimeter of the Dhekelia military base, which provides facilities catering to vulnerable persons such as children.
They will be hosted at separate facilities from those hosting 66 Iraqi and Syrian Kurds, who also arrived at RAF Akrotiri base back in 1998.
They have actually become stateless people.
Asked what next for the new migrants, the spokesperson said it depends on their asylum applications, adding that the authorities of the bases work closely together with Cypriot authorities.
"If they do not claim asylum, the SBA remains responsible for dealing with them. It's possible they could be returned to their place of origin. If they are granted asylum, they would be free to reside within the Republic of Cyprus," said the spokesman.
Officials from Cyprus's foreign ministry's crisis management centre work with the authorities of the bases to sort out the migrants, who are believed to be mostly Syrians and Palestinians.
Cyprus and Britain signed an agreement in 2003 providing for the handling of migrants arriving in the British bases, which though not marked by boundaries, are considered to be British sovereign soil.
- But there are differing interpretations of the 2003 agreement.
Britain's Ministry of Defence insists the refugees are the responsibility of the Cypriot authorities.
- But the United Nations High Commission for Refugees has said that under the terms of the agreement the UK is responsible for refugees arriving on its Cyprus bases.
Cyprus must grant asylum seekers arriving directly in the SBA free medical care, welfare benefits, the right to apply for a work permit and access to education.
The UK has an obligation to indemnify the Republic of Cyprus for the cost incurred.
Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
28/10/15
-
GR
FR
DE
ES
IT
RU
EU
No comments :
Post a Comment
Only News