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Cyprus

Syrians in Cyprus live in limbo as government pauses asylum process

Israel-Hamas war

The government of 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 Nicosia, Cyprus, the government has stopped processing asylum requests from Syrians, which has left a whole community in limbo. 

Man taking photo of self in mirror with a desert background

Out of Eden Walk: Cyprus

Out of Eden Walk
A migrant looks through a fence as others wait in a line to be registered inside a refugee camp in Kokkinotrimithia, outside Nicosia, Cyprus, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021.

Cyprus takes a hard line against immigration, trapping migrants in limbo

Refugees
Greek and Cypriot flags flutter on poles on the left, as Turkish and Turkish Cypriot breakaway flags fly between minarets on the right

As Cyprus’ leaders convene for peace talks in Geneva, some Cypriots say ‘expectations are low’

Samples of a COVID-19 vaccine produced by Sinopharm subsidiary CNBG are displayed near a 3D model of a coronavirus during a trade fair in Beijing on Sept. 6, 2020.

UAE reports success with Sinopharm vaccine; Ethiopia rejects Tigray probes; EU plans to tighten Turkey sanctions

Top of The World
Nazeer Mohammed shows a photo of his 1 1/2-year-old son on the boat to Cyprus.

Lebanese take to the sea — risking their lives to reach Europe

Displacement

Until recently, it was mostly Syrian and Palestinian refugees making the trip across the Mediterranean Sea. But increasingly, Lebanese citizens are filling the boats.

A Turkish ship with a flag sails in the eastern Mediterranean Sea

Greece and Turkey sail toward a crisis of sea borders 

Borders

Greece’s and Turkey’s land borders are fairly clear these days — but claims over the sea are not. When you add recent, underwater gas discoveries to the mix, the decision about who has the right to drill — and where — becomes tangled and complex. 

Two men pose in front of an old tree trunk.

Olive oil company unites Cyprus with a ‘taste of peace’

Food

Since 1974, the island of Cyprus has been divided by a ceasefire “Green Line” that separates the majority-Greek south from the Turkish-occupied north. Now, two friends from both sides of the divide are pressing olives for peace.

People are seen on Ledras Street next to a peace sign near the UN-controlled buffer zone in Nicosia, Cyprus, January 11, 2017.

Five important news stories that aren’t about Donald Trump

Economics

There’s been a lot of news out of Washington lately. But there’s a lot more happening all over the world.

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks to the media in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington April 17, 2014.

A court says Americans should know the reason their government kills its citizens abroad

Global Scan

The Obama administration’s effort to keep its memo on extra-judicial killings secret received a setback this week, when a judge ruled it had to hand over the rationale under the Freedom of Information Act. Meanwhile, North Koreans are increasingly frustrated with their own government — while Russians are falling more and more in line with theirs. That and more in today’s Global Scan.