1 in3 Cyprus base migrants ‘dangerous’

OFFICIALS in Cyprus have revealed that around one in three of the migrants who landed on a British military base in the country will have their asylum claims rejected because of security concerns.

The migrants – mainly from Syria, Lebanon and Palestinian territories – were rescued from two boats near RAF Akrotiri last month.

Yesterday a senior Cypriot official who asked not to be named confirmed that background checks on the asylum seekers were almost complete. And he revealed that just over 30 per cent of the migrants’ applications were likely to be rejected because they were ‘deemed dangerous’.

Earlier this week the Cypriot media reported that security services there had been asked to provide information about at least five of the migrants to other countries because of their possible connections with terror groups. A spokesman at the British base refused to comment when asked about the five potential suspects.

Out of the 115 migrants who landed on the military base in October, 90 have so far claimed asylum in Cyprus. They have been staying in a fenced-off and heavily guarded camp at Dhekelia military base.

Most are refugees from Lebanon and Syria, who had paid people-smugglers to take them to Greece. Many of the migrants had initially demanded the right to settle in Britain, pointing out that they had inadvertently arrived on British soil.

However Britain warned that any who did not apply for asylum in Cyprus would be returned to Lebanon, where their trip in two fishing boats began. This prompted the migrants to threaten a mass hunger strike before they eventually gave up and applied for asylum in Cyprus.

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said at the time: ‘What I can say with absolute clarity is that there is no route for them into the United Kingdom. Sovereign bases are not a back door to migration.’