Police question Syrian asylum seekers

TWENTY-SEVEN Syrian illegal immigrants who entered the free areas through the north were found by Larnaca police yesterday.

According to Larnaca police spokesman Christos Andreou, “27 people – men, women and children were found by the police at the Immigration Department where they went to seek political asylum.”

The illegal immigrants were located by police patrol cars in the Immigration offices on the Finikoudes beach front and Makarios Avenue in Larnaca.

According to Andreou, “from the first statements taken, the illegal immigrants came to Cyprus on October 30, 2008 from Syria by boat through the occupied territories, where they remained until last night when they came into the free areas.”

Andreou said that “It appears that two people are involved in the case, who helped the illegal immigrants and transferred them to Larnaca with special cars. The police is carrying out an investigation over the case” he said.

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.