In the case of M.A. and Z.R. v. Cyprus the Court held that there had been, on account of the applicants’ return to Lebanon, a violation of the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment, a violation of the prohibition of collective expulsion of aliens, a violation of the right to an effective remedy and, on account of the applicants’ treatment by the Cypriot authorities, a violation of the prohibition of torture.

The case concerned the interception of Syrian nationals at sea by the Cypriot authorities and their immediate return to Lebanon, where they had already spent four years in a refugee camp after they had fled Syria because of the civil war there, the targeting of civilians and the destruction of their homes. The applicants maintained that they were asylum-seekers and had stated that they wished to seek asylum in Cyprus, whereas the Cypriot Government had treated them as economic migrants.

The Court found that the Cypriot authorities had essentially returned the applicants to Lebanon without processing their asylum claims and without all the steps required under the Refugee Law.

• Press release
• Factsheet: Collective expulsions of aliens