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Scores of migrants and refugees who arrived from Turkey have asked for asylum in Cyprus, government officials and the United Nations said Tuesday.
They said the asylum seekers came mostly from African and some Asian countries and arrived by air in the northern part of Cyprus.
"As we are speaking, about 100 unregulated immigrants are lined up in the buffer zone and are asking for political asylum," Interior Minister Nikos Nouris told journalists early in the morning, as he arrived at a meeting of the ministerial committee on immigration.
He added that from Friday to Monday night about 70 people had crossed from the Turkish-controlled part of Cyprus into the area under the control of the internationally recognized government of Cyprus.
Later, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Cyprus said that over 100 people have already sought asylum from Cypriot authorities.
"We have spoken to the immigration authorities and were told that 130 people have applied for asylum today [Tuesday]," UNHCR official Emilia Strovolidou said.
Cypriot government spokesman Kyriakos Kousios said that about 100 people were at the Green Line -- the 185 kilometer-long line dividing Cyprus -- requesting political asylum.
He said most of them were economic migrants, with some people coming from countries facing war or strife.
"The migratory flow will increase due to Turkey's decisions, and we must expect a large influx," he added.
Last week, Turkey decided to open its border gates for illegal migrants after at least 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in an airstrike in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, the last rebel-held stronghold.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
