The unpleasant measures for migrants, which the President of the Republic had announced without naming them, obviously have begun.
However, the situation is also unpleasant for the President, who must decide whether to abandon people at sea or to save them by adding even more asylum seekers, angering voters.
Vessels of security forces have set sail to return migrants to Lebanon from where they started. But neither the people on the boats desire it, nor does Lebanon accept them.
International organisations, with whom passengers are in contact, report that people (including children) are in danger.
According to the European office of Amnesty International (Amnesty EU), there is information about “dangerous conditions” on two of the five identified boats. As they state, people have been at sea for days, they have run out of food, water, and fuel, and some are facing health issues.
So what will the Cypriot authorities do? Will they abandon them in the middle of the sea to die of hunger and thirst, unable to go back or move forward? Will they treat them as invaders, protecting maritime borders by any means necessary?
Amnesty calls on the Cypriot Authorities to take immediate action for the rescue and transfer of people to land and to avoid any action that would lead to their return and repatriation to Syria, where they would not be safe, according to Amnesty.
While Cypriot forces remain at sea awaiting instructions, we read that the Supreme Court in Italy confirmed the initial conviction of an Italian tugboat captain, who, after rescuing 101 people at sea in 2018, handed them over to Libya.
The rescue took place in international waters, about 105 kilometres from the Libyan coast. The Italian captain was sentenced to one year in prison after being found guilty of abandoning minors, people in need of medical assistance and arbitrary disembarkation.
Under international humanitarian law, migrants cannot be returned against their will to countries where they face serious risks.
Additionally, the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the European Convention on Human Rights, and EU law dictate the protection of the right of individuals to seek asylum even if they have entered irregularly. “Seeking asylum is a fundamental human right,” according to international organisations.
We also read that an Afghan, whose 6-year-old child drowned off the coast of Samos during repatriation, has filed a lawsuit against the Greek Coast Guard for neglecting owed assistance.
The situation is unpleasant for everyone.
