The three men from Syria who were found last night aboard a boat that was unmanned at sea, three nautical miles east of Paralimni and were rescued by members of the Port and Maritime Police, were transferred to the Center for Reception and Hospitality of Applicants for International Protection in Kofinou.
As the spokesman of the Famagusta Police Directorate, Andreas Konstantinou, stated to KYPE, "the three people were interrogated today by the Foreigners Service of the Republic and submitted a request for asylum".
He added that "the three were transferred this morning to the Asylum Seekers Reception Center in Kofinou and will remain there until their application for asylum is considered."
See here: Paralimni: Syrians in an unmanned boat were rescued by the Coast Guard
Answering a relevant question, Mr. Konstantinou said that "as they claimed to the Police, the three men had no intention of coming to the free areas. They also claimed that they were in the occupied territories from where they were expelled and with their wooden boat they would go to their country in Syria, however they ran out of fuel with the result that the boat was sailing unruly in the sea ".
It is recalled that around 10 last night, the Port and Maritime Police of Paralimni sailed for control of a suspicious boat that was located about three nautical miles east of Paralimni.
An hour later, around eleven o'clock in the evening, a 12-meter-long wooden boat was flown under the Congo flag, carrying three men from Syria, who asked the men of the Port Police to take them to the free areas.
Around 11:45 last night the wooden boat sailed to the fishing shelter of Paralimni accompanied by the boat of the Port Police.
Source: KYPE