On 9 October 1998 an overcrowded fishing boat carrying Kurds from Iraq and Syria began to sink off the coast of Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean. The boat, carrying its human cargo, which included a woman who gave birth at sea, had set off from Lebanon hoping to reach Italy, when it began to founder off the coast of Cyprus.
The 75 men, women and children swam to shore or were airlifted to the British Sovereign Base Areas (SBA) in Akrotiri, part of the 99 square miles that Britain kept for military use after Cyprus gained independence in 1960. The Kurds sought asylum from the British authorities who were reluctant to accept responsibility for them. They were also not allowed to claim asylum in the UK, as the Ministry of Defence, which governs the SBA, feared setting a precedent for other refugees using the bases on the island as a bridge to Britain. While the British High Commission and the Cyprus Republic disputed who had jurisdiction, the asylum seekers were placed in detention on the Bases for over eighteen months. During this time children were born, their refugee claims were assessed, and rejected and the diplomatic rows continued. The families were eventually released from detention in June 2000 and given housing and benefits on the British base of Dhekelia, in an ex servicemen’s quarter called Richmond Village. Eleven years later, they still live in the British bases, in spartan housing once used by British service families, which were due to be demolished years ago.
