Refugees land on British territory in Greek Cyprus

A group of 140 refugees, including women and children, landed at a British air force base in Greek Cyprus on Wednesday, the U.K. defense ministry said in a statement. Two boats came ashore at the Royal Air Force (RAF) base Akrotiri in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The base is sovereign British territory and this is thought to be the first time refugees have directly entered U.K. territory during the current refugee crisis.

"We have not established where they are from yet," a spokesman for the base said, according to the Cyprus Mail newspaper.

The BBC reported that a group of Iraqi Kurds that landed at Akrotiri in 1998 are still housed at a second British base on Greek Cyprus, having had their asylum claims repeatedly denied by the U.K. government. Akrotiri is one of two RAF bases on the island and has been used to launch airstrikes on the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) in Iraq since last year.

Greek Cyprus has seen few refugees arrive on its shores during the crisis - which has seen 710,000 refugees cross into the EU, according to the union's border agency - despite its relative proximity to Syria.

Greek Cyprus's interior ministry says a total of 114 people, including 28 children and 19 women, were aboard two fishing boats that landed at a British air base on the island's southern coast.

The ministry said fishermen initially spotted the two boats Wednesday morning. All 114 people are now at RAF Akrotiri, where they have been given medical care, food and clothing.

British Bases authorities said Wednesday that a 2003 agreement holds the Greek Cyprus government responsible for such arrivals on the two military bases the island hosts.

It also said this incident underlines the need for a comprehensive approach to Europe's migration crisis that would provide humanitarian assistance to Syria and neighboring countries, disrupt trafficking gangs and "address the root causes of instability."

Although Greek Cyprus has not been a favored destination for migrants risking the perilous crossing of the Mediterranean, several rescue operations have been undertaken for boats that got into trouble off its coast. In September, 115 refugees, including 54 women and children, were rescued from a small fishing boat that ran into trouble about 40 nautical miles off the southern port of Larnaca.