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Cyprus is doubling the capacity of its migrant detention camps as the island nation prepares to cope with a new wave of refugees from the Middle East, the country's Interior Ministry said on Thursday.
Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou has instructed relevant departments and agencies of the ministry to increase the capacity of the main migrant reception center near Nicosia to accommodate an additional 1,000 people, the Cyprus News Agency reported. Staff at the center will also be increased to speed up the processing of asylum applications.
The number of asylum seekers arriving in Cyprus from the Middle East has increased in recent years. In the past nine days alone, around 500 Syrians have arrived in Cyprus on boats from the coast of Lebanon, a higher-than-normal number. Cyprus says at least 26 countries have requested the use of its airports and ports in case they need to evacuate their citizens from countries in the Middle East.
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