Rescued Syrians refuse to leave cruise ship after it docks in Cyprus

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/26/rescued-syrians-refuse-leave-cruise-ship-cyprus

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More than 300 people, apparently asylum seekers fleeing Syria, have refused to leave a cruise ship that rescued them from a small boat off Cyprus, a cruise line official said on Thursday.

The managing director of Salamis Cruise Lines, Kikis Vasiliou, said the people insisted they be taken to Italy instead.

“The authorities, they have to decide what they want to do,” Vasiliou told reporters in the port of Limassol.

“We did our outmost to save their lives, to give them food, support and now they want to destroy this company,” he said.

The unexpected turn of events had cost the company “several hundred thousand” euros after the cancellation of a trip by 300 mainly Russian tourists to Haifa, Israel, aboard the Salamis Filoxenia, which was scheduled to depart late on Thursday.

Vasiliou blamed Cypriot authorities for keeping him in the dark about how they intended to resolve the situation.

“There is no responsible person to negotiate and to explain the situation.” he said.

Cypriot officials said the 345 people, including 52 children, were to be taken to a reception centre near the capital, Nicosia, where they would be given shelter and medical attention until authorities determined what would happen to them.

Dozens of civil defence officials, medical staff and police were waiting at the dockside to receive the people after the cruise ship docked.

The liner’s 700 paying passengers disembarked first, police said, while the rescued people remained on board until immigration and health checks could be carried out.

Aid workers said eight of those rescued were suffering from dehydration, while some others had “minor” problems.

A small group did disembark to negotiate with authorities, Vasiliou said, but talks broke off and they returned to the ship.

Several adults holding small children were seen leaving the cruise ship, and one man was led away by police in handcuffs.

A man later came on the cruise ship’s public address system to urge the group through an Arabic-speaking interpreter to disembark, telling them authorities would do all they could to send them to other European countries.

One passenger said a refugee had told her they had sailed from Syria and their skipper had abandoned them after three days at sea.

“The captain of their boat made a phone call and a speed boat came and took the captain,” said Chrystalla Eflatsoumis, 66.

Among the refugees were “many pregnant women and 20 babies”, she said.

Earlier, the defence ministry said the rescue operation had been “completed smoothly and without any injury”.

The people were packed aboard a small vessel that issued a distress call early on Thursday amid rough seas and high winds about 50 nautical miles south-west of Cyprus.

The Cypriot defence ministry said the boat had “most likely” set sail from Syria loaded with “civilian refugees”.

Vasiliou said his company received a request for help from Cypriot search and rescue authorities on Thursday morning while the cruise ship was returning to Cyprus from the Greek islands.