Screenshot of position of one of the boats. Photo: Alarm Phone
On the 13 March 2025, approximately 80 people on board two boats were fleeing sectarian violence in Syria. They were trying to reach a place of safety in Europe. Instead, they were subjected to life threatening treatment at sea and were pushed back by the Cypriot Coast Guard (CCG). The CCG forced them to return to Syria. The people were stopped in the open water where they were towed back towards Lebanon and Syria and forced to return to the place they tried to escape from. This is what a survivor told us:
«We were in Cypriot territorial waters around 16:00 UTC+3 of March 13. A helicopter spotted us and after one hour, the Cypriot Coast Guard arrived, including a translator. I requested asylum for myself and my sons and explained that we were fleeing a sectarian war in Syria, where we face daily oppression and violations of our freedoms. I told them that I am a member of a minority group that is targeted by sectarian violence.»
Other survivors confirmed this story. At first, there was only one boat with approximately 36 people on board. After a few hours, a second boat carrying 50 people arrived on scene, too.
Alarm Phone received photos and videos showing the situation of people on board. One video shows a helicopter circling above the boat. The metadata of the video showed it was taken at the location 34°46’25.7″N 34°30’04.7″E. From this point, the boats continued to drive towards Cyprus for another hour – they were then stopped by vessels of the Cypriot Coast Guard. This was the beginning of their forced return.
Screenshot taken from video from the boat received by Alarm Phone.
There were several CCG-vessels on scene. After they had initial verbal exchanges with the people on the two boats, the translator and the CCG officers present disappeared inside their vessels. One vessel on scene was identified as the Coast Guard vessel PV20 of the Cypriot Coast Guard.
After a few hours, the translator returned and informed them that Cyprus «will not help» them. They were given water (with labels removed), vests and fuel. After this, the Cypriot Coast Guard started towing the two boats. They were later abandoned in the open sea, probably somewhere at the borderline between Lebanese and Syrian waters.
Cyprus pushed them back in the ocean despite knowing where they had left from and even though the people had clearly indicated their wish to claim asylum. The videos and pictures sent to Alarm Phone show many minors on board of the boats, all of whom were exposed to extreme danger due to being abandoned in open waters, despite having reached the supposedly safe destination of Cyprus.
After being left to their own fate at sea, the people crossed paths with the Lebanese Coast Guard who offered to intervene. However, the people on the boat feared they would then be handed over to the so-called New Syrian Coast Guard – the newly formed coast guard under the current Syrian regime. Survivors told us: «If we were handed over to Syrian authorities, we would be treated as «remnants of the fallen regime», «regardless of our stance towards the previous regime. It would have been our death sentence». Under these circumstances, after being pushed back by the Cypriot Coast Guard and fearing they would fall into the hands of the so-called New Syrian Coast Guard, they tried to continue back to land on their own. They arrived on land without being seen and continue to live in fear of attacks.
Lying Authorities
It was in the evening hours of the 13 March 2025 that Alarm Phone learned about three boats, carrying 80 people who fled from violent turmoil in Syria. It later turned out that it was more than 80 people and that there were only two boats. The survivors told us that the Cypriot Coast Guard was lying to their relatives who were calling them, asking for information. At the same time, the Alarm Phone shift teams also received either lies or misinformation from the CCG. At one point, on 14 March 2025, officers on the phone told us that the people from three groups of arrivals had been taken to a camp on the island. It later turned out that this was either a lie or information relating to different boats. Throughout March 13th and 14th, we called many different authorities in Cyprus, but did not receive any reliable or useful information from any of them.
We are shocked about this forced return. People fleeing from persecution were pushed back and forced to return to a place they tried to escape from. Their lives were put in danger twice: on the open sea, when they were pushed back by the Cypriot Coast Guard, and then back in Syria, where they continue to fear persecution and violence.
We condemn the unlawful practices of the Cypriot authorities. On this route between Lebanon, Syria and Cyprus, illegal pushbacks and refoulements appear more frequently – covered up by dubious return agreements or misinformation. Lebanon and Syria remain unsafe places for people on the move, and no person should be forced back to any country they try to escape from. These illegal practices must end! Whilst we know the people were forced back to Syria, many parts of the incident remain unclear due to the misleading information given by Cypriot authorities. Along with the people who were pushed back, we demand clarification of the events!
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Timeline
13.03.2025
17:47: Relatives inform Alarm Phone about three boats carrying a total of 80 people that left from Syria the night before. We later learn from the survivors that it were only two boats.
18:01: call to JRCC Larnaca – we’re advised to call the Marine Police.
18:03: call to Cyprus Port and Marine Police, they don’t share any information and tell us to call again later.
19:19: call to JRCC Larnaca (0035724643005). They advise us again to call the police.
19:29: call to Cyprus Port and Marine Police (0035725805374) no one picks up.
19:30: Call to Cyprus Central Police Station (0035722808080). When we ask for the whereabouts of the 3 boats, they confirm that 3 groups have arrived and were brought to “the Camp”. We assumed in that moment that they meant the 3 boats we were alerted to and were asking about.
The next day we learned from relatives that they still did not hear about the 80 people. Until now we don’t know if the police intentionally gave us wrong information or just mixed things up. According to our information, based on exchange with survivors many days later, the people who were pushed back were never brought to a camp on Cyprus.
14.03.2025
11:00: Relatives contact Alarm Phone again after they did not hear back from the people on the boats. They told us that they were informed by Cypriot authorities that the boats would be brought back to Lebanon.
11:59: We send an email to authorities in Cyprus, including, among others, info@jrcc.org.cy, limmarine@police.gov.cy.
12:04: Call to JRCC Larnaca (00357 2464 3005). They don’t provide any information and tell us to call the Port and Marine Police.
12:11: Call to Cyprus Port and Marine Police (00357-25805374). They don´t give us any information, refusing to provide details on whether the people will be deported to Lebanon or granted they right to apply for asylum. They tell us that they will inform us if they have any more information (which they never did).
12:26: Call to JRCC Beirut (009611629016). They do not give us any information regarding a potential deportation because they are not the responsible authority for such cases. They don´t provide us with a contact for the responsible authority.
17:01: We publish a tweet with the information received from authorities so far:
80 people at risk of being deported to #Lebanon! Cypriot authorities confirmed the arrival of 3 boats carrying 80 people who departed from #Syria. They were brought to a camp in #Cyprus. What will happen next?
1/2— @alarmphone (@alarm_phone) March 14, 2025
During the evening various calls to authorities were made by Alarm Phone, without response.
15.03.2025
18:00: We learn from relatives that the people from these boats are back in Syria. Details on the circumstances of the forced return are still unclear to us, so we try to establish direct contact to the survivors.
