NICOSIA, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The arrival of migrants by boat in Cyprus has been on the increase in recent weeks as weather conditions in the eastern Mediterranean improved, Head of the Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC) Andreas Charalambides said on Monday.
He told state-run CyBC radio that JRCC has been involved in at least 14 incidents of boats loaded with refugees which were spotted off the southeastern coasts of Cyprus over the past seven weeks.
"Since May 9, JRCC had to deal with 14 boats spotted off the Cypriot coasts involving over 400 migrants," Charalambides said.
Charalambides said that last week Cypriot marine police vessels arrived just in time and saved about 50 people from two small boats during a night rescue operation. The boats subsequently sank in two spots 15 and 35 kilometers off the coast, he added.
"Considering the small size and the poor condition of the immigrant boats there is a big and real risk of losing people off the coast of Cyprus," he said.
Migrant arrivals in Cyprus reached a record number of about 22,000 in 2022, more than double the figure in 2021. ■
