Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Migrant crisis: Boats land at UK base RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus

by Alara Berrak and Biodun Iginla, BBC News, Akrotiri, Cyprus

8 minutes ago
Two boats carrying 140 migrants, including children, have landed at the RAF base at Akrotiri in Cyprus, the Ministry of Defence has said.
"We have not established where they are from yet," a base spokesman said.
It is believed to be the first time during the current Mediterranean migrant crisis that people have arrived on UK sovereign territory.
The base, on the south coast, has been used to launch British air strikes against Islamic State fighters in Iraq.
The boats arrived early on Wednesday morning, the Ministry of Defence said.
Unlike a number of Greek or Italian islands in the Mediterranean, European Union member Cyprus has not seen an influx of refugees.
Almost 600,000 migrants are estimated to have arrived in Europe so far this year.
A number of Iraqi Kurds are believed to have landed at RAF Akrotiri in 1998.
EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has called for an extraordinary summit of several EU and Balkan leaders on Sunday to discuss the migrant crisis.
In a statement on Wednesday, he said there was "a need for much greater co-operation, more extensive consultation and immediate operational action".

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