Europe Court Condemns Cyprus Over Return of Syrian Refugees to Lebanon

The headquarters of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)/ Reuters
The headquarters of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)/ Reuters
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Europe Court Condemns Cyprus Over Return of Syrian Refugees to Lebanon

The headquarters of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)/ Reuters
The headquarters of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)/ Reuters

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Tuesday condemned Cyprus for returning to Lebanon two Syrian refugees who had arrived on a small boat, without examining their asylum claim.

According to AFP, the pair, born in 1983, fled the Syrian city of Idlib and the civil war in their home country in 2016, staying in refugee camps in Lebanon.

On September 6, 2020, they boarded a boat for Cyprus, along with a group of approximately 30 Syrian and Lebanese people including
unaccompanied minors.
The following day, on arrival in the territorial waters of Cyprus, their boat was intercepted by the Cypriot coastguard.

Cypriot maritime authorities said the boat passengers had entered Cypriot territorial waters without permission and swiftly returned them to Lebanon where they still remain.

The two Syrians referred to the ECHR, underling that they were returned at the border without individual identification or procedure.

In response to their application, the European court issued a verdict on Tuesday stating that Cyprus had violated Article 3 of ECHR and the UN Refugee convention.

Also, it said collective expulsions of migrants are prohibited under Article 4 of Protocol 4 to the ECHR and as such, cannot be tolerated.

The Cypriot authorities had essentially returned the pair to Lebanon “without processing their asylum claims and without all the steps required under the refugee law,” said the verdict.

Cyprus failed to conduct “any assessment of the risk of lack of access to an effective asylum process in Lebanon or the living conditions of asylum-seekers there,” it added.

The court ordered Cyprus to pay each applicant 22,000 euros ($24,150) for damages and another 4,700 euros ($5,160) jointly for costs and expenses.



Syria Extends the Deadline for a Probe into Coastal Unrest

A man takes a picture with his mobile phone as people gather to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the chemical attack for the first time after the fall of the Assad government in the town of Douma, in the eastern Ghouta region, near the Syrian capital Damascus, Syria, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP)
A man takes a picture with his mobile phone as people gather to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the chemical attack for the first time after the fall of the Assad government in the town of Douma, in the eastern Ghouta region, near the Syrian capital Damascus, Syria, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP)
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Syria Extends the Deadline for a Probe into Coastal Unrest

A man takes a picture with his mobile phone as people gather to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the chemical attack for the first time after the fall of the Assad government in the town of Douma, in the eastern Ghouta region, near the Syrian capital Damascus, Syria, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP)
A man takes a picture with his mobile phone as people gather to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the chemical attack for the first time after the fall of the Assad government in the town of Douma, in the eastern Ghouta region, near the Syrian capital Damascus, Syria, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP)

Syria’s presidency announced on Friday that it would extend a probe into the killings of Alawite civilians in coastal areas that left scores dead after clashes between government forces and armed groups loyal to former President Bashar al-Assad spiraled into sectarian revenge attacks.

The violence erupted on March 6 after Assad loyalists ambushed patrols of the new government, prompting armed groups to launch coordinated assaults on Latakia, Baniyas, and other coastal areas.

The violence brought fear of a renewed civil war and threatened to open an endless cycle of vengeance, driving thousands of Alawites to flee their homes, with an estimated 30,000 seeking refuge in northern Lebanon.

On March 9, interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa formed a fact-finding committee and gave it 30 days to report its findings and identify perpetrators. In a decree published late Thursday, Sharaa said the committee had requested more time and was granted a three-month non-renewable extension.

The committee’s spokesperson, Yasser Farhan, said in a statement on Friday that the committee has recorded 41 sites where killings took place, each forming the basis for a separate case and requiring more time to gather evidence. He said some areas remained inaccessible due to time constraints, but that residents had cooperated, despite threats from pro-Assad remnants.

In a report published on April 3, Amnesty International said its probe into the killings concluded that at least 32 of more than 100 people killed in the town of Baniyas were deliberately targeted on sectarian grounds — a potential war crime.

The rights organization welcomed the committee’s formation but stressed it must be independent, properly resourced, and granted full access to burial sites and witnesses to conduct a credible investigation. It also said the committee should be granted “adequate time to complete the investigation.”