Boat migrants come ashore at British RAF base in Cyprus
By Michele Kambas ATHENS (Reuters) - More than 100 migrants came ashore at a British military base on Cyprus on Wednesday, the first time in the migrant crisis that refugees have landed directly on British sovereign soil. Two fishing boats carrying them were sighted in the early morning off RAF Akrotiri, a sprawling facility on a peninsula on the southern coast of the island. Local media said the vessels had been spotted by fishermen who raised the alert. "We have not established where they are from yet," a spokesman for the bases said. Although the migrants arrived on what is considered British territory, officials said an agreement was in place with Cyprus, which would assume responsibility for them. Cypriot authorities said there were 114 people in the boats, including women and children. The Cyprus Interior Ministry said it was holding consultations with the British High Commission (embassy) on the matter. The British bases still host a small number of Iraqi Kurds who landed in a ramshackle fishing boat in 1998, and who are now effectively stateless. They arrived before the migrants exchange agreement took effect in 2003, and the accord does not apply to them. "Events like this underline why it is important for us to develop a comprehensive approach to the migration crisis," a spokesman for the British bases said. RAF Akrotiri is one of two sovereign territories retained by Britain on Cyprus, a British colony until 1960. A base for Tornado jets, it has played a role in many military operations in the Middle East, and in recent months as a launchpad to bomb Islamic State targets in Iraq. Its land perimeter is heavily guarded and under constant surveillance. Despite its proximity to Syria, EU member Cyprus has seen little of the influx of refugees received by Greece, where arrivals have topped 500,000 this year. Refugees avoid the island because of its relative geographical isolation, which makes it difficult to travel on to other parts of Europe. (Editing by Andrew Roche)
