Brawl at Cyprus migrant camp injures 25

NICOSIA, Cyprus — More than two dozen migrants were injured during a large brawl between nationals from Syria and several African countries at an overcrowded migrant reception camp outside of Cyprus’ capital, a government official said Tuesday.

Interior Ministry spokesman Loizos Michael told The Associated Press that all 25 sustained minor injuries and have since returned to the camp after receiving aid at Nicosia General Hospital.

He said windowpanes were shattered, beds and other equipment smashed and a section of the camp’s fencing sustained extensive damage as a result of the seven-hour melee that was quelled after riot police intervened. Police investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the brawl, but it’s believed that it started with a small number of individuals and quickly grew.

Michael said around 1,500 migrants are housed at the 1,000-capacity camp, with 600 of those under quarantine in line with coronavirus-prevention protocols.

One camp resident told Cyprus’ Sigma TV network from behind the facility’s fence that tensions have risen among migrants from Syria, Nigeria and Sierra Leone because they have not been allowed to leave during a monthlong, nationwide lockdown that the government imposed to curtail COVID-19 infections.

Police spokesman Christos Andreou told Sigma TV that unrest at the camp had never occurred on such a scale.

Ethnically divided Cyprus continues to get small groups of migrants arriving daily, mainly from Turkey, which is 50 miles away at the closest point.