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| Refugee crisis: Syrians rescued at British base on Cyprus – live updates | Refugee crisis: Syrians rescued at British base on Cyprus – live updates |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 11.08am BST11:08 | |
| The nationality of the refugees and migrants who washed up at Akrotiri base is still not confirmed. | |
| Earlier police spokesman at the base George Kiteos told local media that they “appear” to have come from Syria. | |
| But speaking to Helena Smith he said it still remained unclear whether all the refugees were Syrian. | |
| 11.04am BST11:04 | |
| Can the Syrians who arrived at Akrotiri claim asylum in Britain? As the case of the Iraqi Kurds illustrates this is still a matter of legal dispute. | |
| But since then Britain and Cyprus have agreed that refugees who land on sovereign UK territory are handed over to Cyprus. | |
| Asked whether refugees would be able to claim asylum in Britain, an MoD official said: “that’s not our understanding”. | |
| Britain fears setting a precedent that could encourage other asylum seekers to regard the Sovereign Base Areas as a fast track to the UK from the Middle East and north Africa. | |
| 10.56am BST10:56 | |
| Helena Smith | |
| A spokesman for the British bases on Cyprus confirmed that 110 refugees are being held at the Akrotiri base, writes Helena Smith. | |
| “They arrived on the coast in the bit of the base that is closed off. They were brought to shore and are currently in the process of being identified and screened,” George Kiteos, a police spokesman of the British bases told the Guardian. “What happens to them next is up to the politicians to decide.” | |
| Conny Pierce a British spokeswoman there, said the refugees were being held in the base’s military zone and that it was very unlikely there would be press access to them today. | |
| A Cypriot government official said cooperation on the matter would be dictated by the memorandum of understanding that exists between the Republic of Cyprus and the British-run bases. “We are ready to help if requested … for the moment all the individuals are under the control of the bases. We have no involvement whatsoever,” said Olivia Michalidou, spokeswoman for the island’s civil defence department. | |
| 10.49am BST10:49 | |
| This is the first time in the current refugee crisis that refugees have landed on Akrotiri, but the base is still at the centre of a long-running legal battle involving Iraqi Kurds who arrived there in 1998. | |
| At the time the administration on the base tried to pass the burden on to the Cypriot authorities but was told the migrants were Britain’s responsibility, as Michael Theodoulou explains. | |
| The migrants were moved from Akrotiri to Dhekelia several months later. They were housed in rudimentary, former married quarters for British service families that were due to be demolished, and provided with weekly welfare allowances. It was meant to be a temporary measure. | |
| Sixteen years on, 21 of the boat people remain in Richmond Village. With children born there and family members who later joined them, they make up a group of 67. Just over half are children, all of whom are stateless. | |
| The Richmond villagers are embroiled in one of Britain’s longest and most bizarre refugee dramas. “Our situation is unbearable,” Layali says. “We feel so cut off from the rest of the world. We’re in limbo.” | |
| The “forgotten village” has no shops, no amenities and just a handful of dusty streets. It feels a world apart from Dhekelia’s nearby main military compound, where British forces and their families lead busy lives in a well-ordered setting that resembles a chunk of middle England transplanted into the Mediterranean. | |
| 10.30am BST10:30 | 10.30am BST10:30 |
| The Akrotiri base went into lockdown when the refugees arrived, according to ITV’s Emma Murphy who was on the base at the time to report on British airstrikes against Islamic State militants. | The Akrotiri base went into lockdown when the refugees arrived, according to ITV’s Emma Murphy who was on the base at the time to report on British airstrikes against Islamic State militants. |
| She reports: | She reports: |
| The strangest of ironies is that the lock-down was the result of at least 140 migrants, mainly from Syria, washing ashore in small boats on a beach at the base. | The strangest of ironies is that the lock-down was the result of at least 140 migrants, mainly from Syria, washing ashore in small boats on a beach at the base. |
| Many of those brought to safety were fleeing the tyranny of Isis - they reached safety as Tornados took to the skies on another anti-Isis mission. | Many of those brought to safety were fleeing the tyranny of Isis - they reached safety as Tornados took to the skies on another anti-Isis mission. |
| 10.20am BST10:20 | 10.20am BST10:20 |
| Summary | Summary |
| Welcome to live coverage of the refugee crisis in Europe after 140 Syrian arrive at a British military base on Cyprus and a fire broke out a migrant camp in Slovenia. | Welcome to live coverage of the refugee crisis in Europe after 140 Syrian arrive at a British military base on Cyprus and a fire broke out a migrant camp in Slovenia. |
| Here’s a roundup of what we know: | Here’s a roundup of what we know: |