A total of 34 irregular Syrian immigrants, who arrived on Sunday morning in Cyprus, are currently hosted at the reception centre at Kokkinotrimithia village, in Nicosia district. They have all applied for asylum.

The immigrants were transported to the reception centre after police completed their processing.

Cyprus Port and Marine Police located their boat yesterday morning and monitored its movements.

The boat then approached the Turkish occupied area of Morphou and soon afterwards the 34 immigrants passed through the cease-fire line, from the Turkish occupied areas to the government-controlled areas of the island, on foot.

Police continue their investigation.

Cyprus President, Nicos Anastasiades, has recently called on the EU to tackle the migration issue collectively, noting that Cyprus has already reached its limits in terms of managing asylum applications.

According to the data he presented his EU counterparts in the first eight months of 2018 there was an increase of 55% in asylum applications compared to 2017, while in 2017 there was an increase of 56% compared to 2016.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third.