Cyprus seeks UN help to stem asylum-seeker ‘avalanche’

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS
Associated Press

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The interior minister of Cyprus says he’s seeking help from the United Nations to stem an “avalanche” of migrants who make their way from the ethnically divided island’s breakaway north across a U.N.-controlled buffer zone to seek asylum. He says authorities cannot cope with the number of people flowing in. Interior Minister Nikos Nouris told The Associated Press on Monday that 94% of the 15,130 asylum-seekers who had traversed the buffer zone through August have filed applications with the island’s internationally recognized government in the south. Nouris will travel to New York U.N. headquarters this week for meetings on the topic.