NICOSIA: Cypriot police arrested 33 people after violence erupted at the island's main migrant reception centre when fighting broke out between two ethnic groups, authorities said Tuesday.
Riot police were called to quell a disturbance on Monday evening at Pournara camp, where tear gas was used against migrants after clashes broke out between dozens of mainly African nationals and Syrians, the official Cyprus News Agency said.
According to the Interior Ministry, orders have been given for the deportation of any asylum seeker found to be responsible for the outbreak of violence.
Police told AFP Tuesday that eight migrants were slightly injured during the fighting and were taken to hospital to receive first aid and released.
The cause of the dispute is still under investigation, but police said the situation has been brought under control.
The extent of damage to the property has yet to be officially estimated.
In October 2022, riots sent people fleeing from the camp, located just outside the capital Nicosia.
Cyprus is a frontline country on the Mediterranean migrant route, having long reported one of the highest rates of first-time asylum seekers in the European Union.
According to official figures, asylum-seekers comprise six per cent of the 915,000 population in the government-controlled south of the island –- a record figure across the EU.
The northern third of the island is controlled by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognised only by Ankara.
The Cypriot government recently doubled the 1,000 capacity of Pournara after an influx of over 500 Syrian migrants from Lebanon since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7.
According to the United Nations refugee agency, there are 26,995 asylum-seekers whose applications are pending in Cyprus.