Yousseff, 32, left Syria for Lebanon to escape the civil war, he said, but he felt he was unable to build a life there for his family. So, he arranged to be on a smuggler boat to Cyprus in January.
The trauma of his voyage is still raw: “The boat captain got lost, and we were stranded at sea for seven days, [with] no water and no food,” Youssef said, speaking in Arabic through an interpreter.
When the boat was tossed by a storm, he fractured his right leg. By the time they were rescued and brought to Cyprus, he said, his leg had to be amputated.
Today, Yousseff, who is in a wheelchair, lives in government-provided housing for disabled asylum-seekers. His roommate, also Syrian, Abdul, 45, made the difficult trip across the Mediterranean from Lebanon in February. Both men asked that their last names not be used because their asylum cases are pending.
Youssef and Abdul are among the thousands of Syrians who have recently crossed the Mediterranean Sea from Lebanon to Cyprus, the European Union’s easternmost country.
Cyprus declared a “migrant emergency” in April after more than 2,000 people arrived there by sea in the first three months of 2024. That’s compared to just 78 in the same period of 2023. Many are Syrians fleeing war and economic crises in Lebanon, which has been home to more than a million refugees since the Syrian civil war started in 2011. In Nicosia, Cyprus, the government has temporarily stopped examining Syrian asylum claims, which has left a whole community in limbo.
Andreas Georgiades, the head of the country’s Asylum Service, said the hold on Syrian asylum requests is necessary as Cyprus pursues a change in EU policy toward Syria. The country wants parts of Syria to be declared safe for refugees’ return.
“There’s no reason to examine somebody that maybe next week you’re going to come and take back his status. So, it’s better to put a temporary stop,” Georgiades said.
He acknowledged that Cyprus is apprehensive about future groups of migrants. Especially worrisome is the instability in Lebanon. The situation for Syrians in Lebanon has worsened as the country deals with an economic crisis, and the Lebanese authorities have stepped up deportations.
“We’re talking about a million-and-a-half registered Syrians in Lebanon, another million that is not registered. This is the estimate plus around half a million Palestinians who have been living there. Let alone the Lebanese who will not want to be in Lebanon anymore,” he said.
The Israel-Hamas war and the war between Israel and Hezbollah at Lebanon’s southern border add to the uncertainty.
Emilia Strovolidou, a spokeswoman for the UNHCR office in Cyprus, said smuggler boats arriving from Lebanon have dropped off since April, when the government suspended work on Syrian asylum requests.
But she said the government inaction weighs heavily on the 14,000 Syrians whose claims are pending.
“This new policy has caused a lot of anxiety and many questions as to when this will be resumed,” Strovolidou said.
In the meantime, Syrians like Youssef and Abdul are trying to stay hopeful.
Youssef wants to arrange for his wife and seven children to join him.
“We want our children to take care of us because we don’t have anyone here to aid us,” he said. “It’s tough here.”
Abdul, who lost his left leg in a work accident in Lebanon, where he had fled Syria’s war in 2012, said he is hopeful that his disability will allow him to be reunited with a son living in France.
But Abdul, who came to Cyprus after the Lebanese army deported him to the Syrian border because the Lebanese government didn’t renew his residency papers — said he worries about the dozens of other Syrians who were on the boat with him.
“How do they financially sustain their families? Welfare is giving them 500 euros per month. Rent is 500, 600 euros,” Abdul said. “And a Syrian doesn’t have the right to work. How will he live and get income for his children?”
Some organizations in Nicosia are trying to fill the gap.
At the Dignity Center, volunteers help a young, Syrian couple pack free groceries from the nongovernmental organization’s pantry. Cans of fava beans, produce and other food basics are lined up on metal racks.
People enter the street-front center — grateful for the air-conditioned rooms where they can escape the brutally hot summer sun. Employees said that in recent months, 80% of the people who come to collect food are Syrian.
Elizabeth Kassinis, who runs Caritas in Nicosia, said Syrians come to the Catholic charity for groceries, clothes and strollers alongwith help navigating Cyprus’ bureaucracy.
“They are dependent on benefits, and the Syrians have this added complication that the government will not be examining their claims, so they’re in something of a limbo,” Kassinis said.
Ali Almazawi considers himself a lucky one. The 32-year-old arrived in Cyprus in 2019 and waited five years to receive his full refugee status. He now works as a computer engineer and is building a life in Nicosia.
He said that the current situation makes him ache for fellow Syrians still waiting for their asylum rulings. He said that they are prohibited from things most people take for granted — like driving or opening a bank account.
“It’s just hopeless. It feels you’re imprisoned a bit. You cannot imagine what is beyond this,” Almazawi said. “You’re just confined to this status of being an asylum-seeker.”
For now, those Syrians whose cases are still open can only wait it out.
Yara Malka, an editor at the Lebanese newspaper L’Orient Today, provided Arabic translation.
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