300 rescued Syrian refugees persuaded to exit cruise ship in Cyprus

Police in Cyprus have finally manage to persuade nearly 300 migrants, thought to be Syrian refugees, to disembark from the cruise ship that had rescued them. Police negotiators coaxed the migrants off the ship in the early hours of Friday, an official said, ending a stand-off that began on Thursday. The migrants were rescued at sea by cruise ship Salamis Filoxenia. Although 65 left the ship when it docked at Limassol, the rest reportedly insisted on being taken to Italy.

Everything went calmly.

Marinos Papadopoulos, a Cypriot interior ministry official

The Cypriot defence ministry said 52 children were on the small fishing boat that had sent a distress signal. All those rescued are said to be in good health. Meanwhile, 300 Russian passengers who had been due to continue their cruise to Haifa, Israel, on board the Salamis Filoxenia had their journey cancelled and were put up in Limassol hotels.

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