Middle East crisis: Cyprus readies to receive refugees

As fighting continues to escalate in the Middle East, EU member state Cyprus, located in the eastern Mediterranean, is increasingly coming into focus.

Its ports already play a crucial role in delivering aid to the besieged Gaza Strip, and now, the country might become a gathering point and safe haven for those who manage to flee the violence in the region.

Cyprus has become an important stopover for Israelis stranded abroad after at least 20 international airlines, including Germany's Lufthansa, canceled or delayed their direct flights to Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport. Israelis are being advised to head to the island, as well as to Greece, where they will be collected by Israeli airlines and brought home.

Just a few days ago, Alexis Vafeades, Cyprus' transport minister, told the Cyprus News Agency that "connectivity" between Israel and Cyprus would remain intact. He added that officials would "stay alert," highlighting Cyprus' efforts to uphold stable transport lines to Israel despite ongoing violence in the region.

Back home from Cyprus

Cyprus' Larnaca Airport is currently handling around 14 passenger flights a day to Tel Aviv, transporting about 4,000 passengers to Israel. Before the most recent escalation of tensions, 10 airlines operated this route but two have since discontinued services.

Flights to the Lebanese capital, Beirut, are currently not affected by the situation and will continue regular operations for the foreseeable future.

Given rising fears of a further escalation of violence in the Middle East, Cypriot authorities are on high alert. The small island nation has already announced it is prepared to be a safe haven for civilians fleeing war zones in the Middle East.

Countries like Germany and Poland plan to bring their citizens currently staying in Israel and Lebanon home through Cyprus, if necessary.

Close contact with Germany

In a written statement in May, Cyprus' Foreign Affairs Minister Constantinos Kombos confirmed his government had developed a special national action plan, known as ESTIA, for the emergency evacuation of civilians from nearby crisis areas.

It first came into effect October 2023 and determines processes for receiving, accommodating and repatriating third-country refugees.

In addition, Cyprus has also activated a second plan, Nafkratis, for evacuating EU citizens or third-country civilians from Lebanon through Cyprus and managing the increase of refugees expected to arrive by sea.

Cyprus has being working closely with Canada and Germany, as many nationals from these countries are currently in Lebanon. In the port of Larnaca, German and Canadian crisis management teams are standing by to evacuate their citizens from Lebanon should the crisis in the Middle East escalate. Germany's air force has also announced it's been preparing to help.

Hassan Nasrallah issues threats

Cyprus' close geological proximity to the mounting violence in the Middle East has also made it a target itself. In June, the head of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, Hassan Nasrallah ,threatened that Cyprus would be considered "a part of the war" should Israel use Cypriot air and military facilities to direct attacks against Lebanon.

Since then, Cyprus' government has repeatedly stressed that the country neither had nor would provide facilities for acts of aggression toward third countries. While speaking to the EU's Foreign Affairs Council in June, Kombos stressed that Cyprus "has not been and will not be part of the crisis" but strived to be part of the solution.

Chartering evacuation vessels

The Cypriot government also recently corrected statements by Israeli Transport Minister Miri Regev, who had indicated that Greece and Cyprus would help Israeli civilians return home if Israel came under attack.

Specifically, Regev suggested that if Israel were attacked, it could seek help from "ships from Athens in Greece and Larnaca in Cyprus."

Cypriot government spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis distanced his government from these remarks on Monday, clarifying that any Israeli plans for maritime shuttles from Cyprus to Israel would be operated by ships chartered by Israel, not Cyprus.

He added that these plans were not to be conflated with Cyprus' ESTIA plan for evacuating citizens from dangerous zones.

This article was originally written in German.