Immigrants will be deported if Lebanon won’t have them back

THE 266 illegal immigrants being held at sea off Limassol will be deported back to their countries of origin if Lebanon does not accept to them back, Justice Minister Nicos Koshis said yesterday.

Under a bilateral agreement with Cyprus, Lebanon is committed to taking back any immigrants proved to have sailed from its shores. Beirut is yet to be convinced that this latest batch of immigrants came from Lebanon, though Koshis said yesterday an answer was expected at any time.

“ We are waiting for a final word from Lebanon any time now. I believe by Tuesday we will have an answer. If Lebanon refuses to accept the immigrants back, then there is no choice for us but to provide them with accommodation ashore and put forward a deportation procedure to send each back to his home country,” said Koshis.

The immigrants cannot go on sleeping in a boat for much longer, Koshis said. But if Lebanon gives the green light for their return, they will be sent there immediately.

“The state has until now allocated a lot of money to humanitarian aid provided to the immigrants, including food, clothes and acceptable standards of hygiene,” the minister added.

New evidence was presented to the Lebanese chargé d’affaires in Nicosia yesterday in the hope of convincing the authorities that the immigrants had indeed left from Lebanon.

A Turk suspected of captaining the boat was arrested last week and remanded in custody for eight days.

Ibrahim Muhammad Farrah is expected to reappear in Court on Thursday.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.