At the Grand Seraglio, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and outgoing Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati. (Credit: Mohammed Yassin/L'Orient Today)
The issue of Syrian migrants is at the heart of Monday's official visit to Lebanon by Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, who was received on arrival at the airport by caretaker Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati. Last week, Christodoulides had commented on the influx of migrants from Lebanon, urging Lebanon not to "export its migration problem," to which the Lebanese prime minister had responded by calling on the international community to "understand" the situation.
The two leaders first held separate talks in the Grand Serail. A broader meeting was then held with members of the Cypriot delegation and senior Lebanese officials.
Among those attending the meeting on the Lebanese side were the caretaker interior minister, Bassam Mawlawi, Lebanon's Ambassador to Cyprus, Claude Hajal, the head of the army, Joseph Aoun, the Director General of the Presidency of the Republic, Antoine Choucair, the Secretary General of the Government, Mahmoud Makkieh, Director General of the Internal Security Forces, General Imad Othman, Acting Director General of General Security, General Elias Baissari, Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Farah Khatib, and Advisor to the Prime Minister, Ziyad Mikati. The caretaker defense minister, Maurice Slim, also sent his apologies.
The Cypriot delegation includes Foreign Minister Kostandinos Kompos, Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou, Cypriot Ambassador to Lebanon Maria Hadjitheodosiou, Government Spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis and the Commander of the Cypriot Army, Lieutenant General Georgios Tsitsikostas.
Christodoulidès then traveled to Ain al-Tineh, where he held talks with the head of Parliament, Nabih Berri.
With the return of warmer and calmer weather, clandestine departures from the Lebanese coast to Cyprus are on the increase, causing a stir between Beirut and Nicosia.
In four days, at least 600 Syrians arrived in Cyprus
According to Reuters, at least 600 Syrians from Lebanon arrived in Cyprus in the first four days of April on small boats, thanks to mild weather. The sea crossing from Lebanon or Syria to Cyprus takes around 10 hours.
"These almost daily arrivals constitute a serious crisis," Christodoulides told the Lebanese government on Wednesday.
More than 2,000 people arrived in Cyprus by sea in the first three months of this year, compared with just 78 in the same period in 2023, according to official data.
Christodoulides also said that Lebanon should not "export" its migration problem. He has already held a call with his Lebanese counterpart, Mikati, on this subject. Lebanon, for its part, invites the international community to "understand" the Lebanese situation. It also refuses to allow the return of illegal Syrian migrants.
Lebanon currently has 784,884 Syrian refugees registered with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), according to December 2023 figures. The official estimate remains around 1.5 million, including those not registered with UNHCR, making Lebanon the country with the highest refugee population per capita in the world.
Ninety percent of Syrian refugees in Lebanon live in extreme poverty, according to the international NGO Human Rights Watch.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.