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HRW: Cyprus Pushed back Lebanon Migrants, Ignored Claims

Lebanese Afaf Adulhamid the mother of Mohammed Khaldoun, who is still missing at sea while he was trying with other migrants to reach Cyprus on a boat, cries and prays her son's safe return. (AP)
Lebanese Afaf Adulhamid the mother of Mohammed Khaldoun, who is still missing at sea while he was trying with other migrants to reach Cyprus on a boat, cries and prays her son's safe return. (AP)
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HRW: Cyprus Pushed back Lebanon Migrants, Ignored Claims

Lebanese Afaf Adulhamid the mother of Mohammed Khaldoun, who is still missing at sea while he was trying with other migrants to reach Cyprus on a boat, cries and prays her son's safe return. (AP)
Lebanese Afaf Adulhamid the mother of Mohammed Khaldoun, who is still missing at sea while he was trying with other migrants to reach Cyprus on a boat, cries and prays her son's safe return. (AP)

Cypriot authorities pushed back 200 migrants and refugees arriving from Lebanon aboard boats earlier this month, ignoring their claims for asylum while in some instances using violence and coercive tactics, a human rights watchdog said on Tuesday.

Human Rights Watch accused Cypriot marine police officers of beating some migrants and making threats. The group said coast guard vessels attempted to swamp migrant boats by circling them at high speed and abandoned at least one boat at sea without food or fuel.

The watchdog said the accusations come from interviews with 15 Lebanese and Syrian nationals who tried to reach European Union member Cyprus after setting sail from Tripoli, Lebanon, aboard seven boats between Aug. 29 and Sept. 7.

According to Human Rights Watch, witnesses and victims on two boats returned to Lebanon said that Cyprus marine police handcuffed and beat individuals who resisted being returned.

The watchdog quoted one Lebanese national identified only by his first name who accused Cypriot police of using a cattle prod on him aboard a boat on Sept. 6 after he shouted at them to rescue a couple who jumped overboard.

The watchdog urged Cypriot judicial authorities to carry out an investigation into the allegations and prosecute anyone found to have committed any wrongdoing.

It said the European Commission should get Cyprus to respect the right of migrants to seek asylum and to not return people to a place where their safety and freedom may be at risk.

“People who risk their lives and their children’s lives by fleeing Lebanon by boat do so when they are truly desperate,” Human Right Watch official Bill Frelick said. “They have a right to have their claims for international protection considered.”

Cypriot officials did not immediately return calls for comment on the report.

The Cypriot government has said the ethnically split island nation is willing to offer safe haven to refugees, but has reached its limits in accepting “economic migrants.” Interior Minister Nicos Nouris said earlier this month that the Cypriot government is coordinating with Lebanese authorities to take back migrants arriving from that country in line with international law.

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Arab World

Syria Parliament Votes to Abolish Assad-Era Terrorism Court, Nullify Rulings

Members of Syria's newly formed People's Assembly attend the body's inaugural session, the first parliament session since the end of the rule of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, July 12, 2026. (Reuters)
Members of Syria's newly formed People's Assembly attend the body's inaugural session, the first parliament session since the end of the rule of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, July 12, 2026. (Reuters)
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Syria Parliament Votes to Abolish Assad-Era Terrorism Court, Nullify Rulings

Members of Syria's newly formed People's Assembly attend the body's inaugural session, the first parliament session since the end of the rule of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, July 12, 2026. (Reuters)
Members of Syria's newly formed People's Assembly attend the body's inaugural session, the first parliament session since the end of the rule of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, July 12, 2026. (Reuters)

Syria's parliament voted on Wednesday ‌to abolish an Assad-era terrorism court and nullify the legal effects of its rulings, state-run Al-Ikhbariya TV reported, in one of the first significant legislative moves by the country's new assembly.

The Counter-Terrorism Court was established in 2012 as then-President Bashar al-Assad sought to suppress an uprising against his rule, and it was used to prosecute thousands of Syrians for terrorism-related offences.

The move formalizes the court's abolition after Syria's new authorities had already treated it as defunct. ‌In June 2025, President ‌Ahmad al-Sharaa issued a decree dismissing ‌67 ⁠judges who had served ⁠in what he described at the time as the "abolished Counter-Terrorism Court".

Syria's March 2025 constitutional declaration had also called for abolishing the effects of what it described as unjust rulings issued by the court, including returning confiscated property.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee said in 2024 that the ⁠2012 law establishing the court failed to ‌adequately provide key judicial guarantees ‌and raised concerns over arbitrary detention, torture or ill-treatment, and the ‌court's independence. It also noted that the court was ‌permitted to depart from ordinary procedures during prosecution and trial.

The UN's International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism said in a 2024 report that the Counter-Terrorism Court formed part of the judicial system through ‌which detainees held by Assad-era security agencies could be prosecuted. The report documented widespread and ⁠systematic torture ⁠and ill-treatment across the government's detention system.

Wednesday's vote came during the opening weeks of the first parliament formed since Assad was toppled in December 2024. The chamber convened for the first time in July.

The vote is among the assembly's first major legislative decisions after it spent its initial sessions establishing its internal rules and committees. It held a hearing this week with Education Minister Mohammad Abdul Rahman Tarkou over the state of the country's schools and is due to question the energy minister on Thursday over a sharp rise in fuel prices.

Arab World

Egypt's Sisi Rejects Palestinian Displacement in Abbas Meeting

A handout photo made available by the Palestinian President Office (PPO) shows Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (L) meeting with the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (R) in Cairo, Egypt, 08 January 2024.File / EPA
A handout photo made available by the Palestinian President Office (PPO) shows Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (L) meeting with the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (R) in Cairo, Egypt, 08 January 2024.File / EPA
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Egypt's Sisi Rejects Palestinian Displacement in Abbas Meeting

A handout photo made available by the Palestinian President Office (PPO) shows Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (L) meeting with the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (R) in Cairo, Egypt, 08 January 2024.File / EPA
A handout photo made available by the Palestinian President Office (PPO) shows Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (L) meeting with the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (R) in Cairo, Egypt, 08 January 2024.File / EPA

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi rejected on Wednesday any plans for Palestinian displacement, hours after Israel's defense minister said the army would "finish the job" in Gaza and remove Palestinians.

During a visit by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, Sisi "reiterated Egypt's firm stance against the displacement of the Palestinian people or any attempt to annihilate the Palestinian cause".

Egypt shares the only land border with the Gaza Strip that is not controlled by Israel, and has since 2023 rejected plans to displace the territory's more than two million people into the Sinai peninsula.

Last year, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Cairo had turned down multiple offers to forgive parts of its massive foreign debt bill in exchange for allowing mass displacement into its territory.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday said it was only a matter of time before Israel resumes full-scale war in Gaza, "to finish the job so that we can also implement the migration plan".

He said earlier this month that Israel was ready to remove Palestinians from Gaza by sea and land but was waiting for the United States, which he said was discussing where the two million people would go.

US Ambassador Mike Huckabee has denied any plan to "displace people out of Gaza against their will".

Nearly all of Gaza's population has been internally displaced and most of the territory lies in rubble after three years of war that has killed more than 73,700 Palestinians.

The war began on October 7, 2023 after a Hamas-led attack on Israel that killed 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Arab World

Aoun: Lebanon Wants Israel Security Deal, Hezbollah Disarmament Without Confrontation

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun speaks during an interview with AFP at the Presidential Palace in Baabda on September 15, 2026. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP)
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun speaks during an interview with AFP at the Presidential Palace in Baabda on September 15, 2026. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP)
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Aoun: Lebanon Wants Israel Security Deal, Hezbollah Disarmament Without Confrontation

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun speaks during an interview with AFP at the Presidential Palace in Baabda on September 15, 2026. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP)
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun speaks during an interview with AFP at the Presidential Palace in Baabda on September 15, 2026. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP)

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun told AFP in an exclusive interview he wants to reach a security agreement with Israel once it withdraws from the south, and is determined to disarm Hezbollah without resorting to confrontation.

Speaking ahead of his departure to France on Wednesday, Aoun said Lebanon wanted a new force, European or otherwise, to prevent a security vacuum after UN peacekeepers leave south Lebanon when their mandate expires at the end of the year.

He called on the United States, European Union and Arab countries to support Lebanon's military as it deploys across the south.

In Paris, Aoun will attend a meeting hosted by President Emmanuel Macron and attended by King Abdullah II of Jordan to build international support for Lebanese troops as they deploy across the country.

"What matters is that there is no vacuum," Aoun told AFP on Tuesday. He added that any new force for Lebanon's south, part of which is occupied by Israel, would be "temporary until the (Lebanese) army can deploy."

"Whatever the nature of this force, that poses no problem for me: European, non-European, American, another United Nations force, Asian, or even a mix of European, Arab and Asian forces," Aoun said.

"The best and most optimal option remains extending UNIFIL's mandate," he added.

Under US pressure, the UN Security Council voted last year to end the force's mandate on December 31, 2026.

The mission, currently involving around 8,500 peacekeepers from nearly 50 countries, has been deployed in south Lebanon since 1978.

Aoun also said he wants a security agreement with Israel "primarily to end the state of hostility and the deployment of the army on the border. This could be a prelude to a later peace agreement, but we cannot jump directly to a peace agreement."

"We have no choice but negotiations, because the alternative is war, which would be very costly for us," Aoun added.

"Our Arab and European partners, as well as the United States and our friends, must share with us the responsibility of supporting the army and strengthening the Lebanese state," he said.

Aoun reiterated Lebanon was determined to disarm Hezbollah, saying the decision was "neither negotiable nor open to discussion."

However, he said, "the objective is not a confrontation... We are determined to resolve this issue peacefully.

"This is not about building a state at the cost of a bloody conflict... or a new civil war."

Aoun said he had told Iran that after Hezbollah's disarmament, relations "must be based on mutual respect and non-interference in the internal affairs of the Lebanese people.

"We have no problem with having a relationship with Iran, but we do have a problem with interference in our internal affairs."