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140 migrants land at UK base in Cyprus | 140 migrants land at UK base in Cyprus |
(35 minutes later) | |
Four boats carrying 140 migrants, including children, have landed at the RAF base at Akrotiri in Cyprus, the Ministry of Defence has said. | |
"We have not established where they are from yet," a base spokesman said. | |
It is believed to be the first time during the current Mediterranean migrant crisis that people have arrived on UK sovereign territory. | |
The base, on the south coast, has been used to launch British air strikes against Islamic State fighters in Iraq. | |
The boats arrived early on Wednesday morning, the Ministry of Defence said. | |
Unlike a number of Greek or Italian islands in the Mediterranean, European Union member Cyprus has not seen an influx of refugees. | |
Almost 600,000 migrants are estimated to have arrived in Europe by sea so far this year. | |
A number of Iraqi Kurds are believed to have landed at RAF Akrotiri in 1998. |