On the final leg of his journey from Iraq to Europe, Hawye Rasool Saleh paid 400 euros ($457), borrowed from his best friend, to a smuggler who would help him across the cease-fire line of ethnically split Cyprus.
Two soldiers manning a Turkish Cypriot guard post checked the driver's ID, then waved the van through to the buffer zone that divides the northern part of the Mediterranean island from the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus, a European Union member.
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On the final leg of his journey from Iraq to Europe, Hawye Rasool Saleh paid 400 euros ($457), borrowed from his best friend, to a smuggler who would help him across the cease-fire line of ethnically split Cyprus.
In this Friday, Nov. 16, 2018 a homeless migrant is seen at a place under of a hotel in central city of Nicosia, Cyprus. The Cyprus Refugee Council, a nonprofit group, said there’s now a backlog of about 8,000 asylum applications as of late 2018, and it takes three to five years to process each claim, including appeals. (AP PhotoPetros Karadjias)
In this Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018, migrants stand outside of a shop in central Nicosia, Cyprus. The Cyprus Refugee Council, a nonprofit group, said there’s now a backlog of about 8,000 asylum applications as of late 2018, and it takes three to five years to process each claim, including appeals. (AP PhotoPetros Karadjias)
In this Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018, Hawye Rasool Saleh, 32, a migrant from Iraq washes his face at his living space under a hotel in central Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus was not seen as an attractive destination for migrants seeking shelter and a new life in Europe, but that has changed as other nations in Europe have shut their borders and the economic situation has slowly improved for this small island nation.(AP PhotoPetros Karadjias)
In this Friday, Nov. 16, 2018 a homeless migrant stands on a street in central Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus was not seen as an attractive destination for migrants seeking shelter and a new life in Europe, but that has changed as other nations in Europe have shut their borders and the economic situation has slowly improved for this small island nation. (AP PhotoPetros Karadjias)
In this Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018, Hawye Rasool Saleh, 32, a migrant from Iraq holds a t-shirt at a living place under a hotel in central Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus was not seen as an attractive destination for migrants seeking shelter and a new life in Europe, but that has changed as other nations in Europe have shut their borders and the economic situation has slowly improved for this small island nation. (AP PhotoPetros Karadjias)
In this Friday, Nov. 16, 2018, migrants stand at a market stall in central Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus was not seen as an attractive destination for migrants seeking shelter and a new life in Europe, but that has changed as other nations in Europe have shut their borders and the economic situation has slowly improved for this small island nation.(AP PhotoPetros Karadjias)
In this Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018, a migrant from Africa uses his mobile in a neighborhood in central Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus was not seen as an attractive destination for migrants seeking shelter and a new life in Europe, but that has changed as other nations in Europe have shut their borders and the economic situation has slowly improved for this small island nation. (AP PhotoPetros Karadjias)
In this Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018, migrants reflected on a window of a market at a neighborhood in central city of Nicosia, Cyprus. Migrant arrivals are down overall in Europe as some countries tighten their borders, but migrant trafficking networks seem to have set their sights on Cyprus. (AP PhotoPetros Karadjias)
In this Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018, a migrant from Syria at a refugee camp in Kokkinotrimithia outside of Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus was not seen as an attractive destination for migrants seeking shelter and a new life in Europe, but that has changed as other nations in Europe have shut their borders and the economic situation has slowly improved for the small island nation. (AP PhotoPetros Karadjias)
In this Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018, a migrant with his children walk by shops at a neighborhood in central city of Nicosia, Cyprus. The Cyprus Refugee Council, a nonprofit group, said there is now a backlog of about 8,000 asylum applications as of late 2018, and it takes three to five years to process each claim, including appeals. (AP PhotoPetros Karadjias)
In this Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018, Hawye Rasool Saleh, 32, a migrant from Iraq washes at his living space under a hotel in central Nicosia, Cyprus. The Cyprus Refugee Council, a nonprofit group, said there is now a backlog of about 8,000 asylum applications as of late 2018, and it takes three to five years to process each claim, including appeals.(AP PhotoPetros Karadjias)
Saleh, who said he fled religious fundamentalism in Iraq, is one of the thousands of migrants who have slipped into Cyprus this year across its porous 180-kilometer-long (120-mile-long) buffer zone. Migrant arrivals by sea have also increased, turning tiny Cyprus into the EU's top recipient of asylum-seekers relative to its population size, as other EU countries have tightened their borders.
In this Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018, a migrant from Syria rests at a refugee camp in Kokkinotrimithia outside of Nicosia, Cyprus. The Cyprus Refugee Council, a nonprofit group, said there is now a backlog of about 8,000 asylum applications as of late 2018, and it takes three to five years to process each claim, including appeals.(AP PhotoPetros Karadjias)
In this Friday, Nov. 16, 2018 a homeless migrant is seen at a place under of a hotel in central city of Nicosia, Cyprus. The Cyprus Refugee Council, a nonprofit group, said there’s now a backlog of about 8,000 asylum applications as of late 2018, and it takes three to five years to process each claim, including appeals. (AP PhotoPetros Karadjias)
In this Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018, migrants stand outside of a shop in central Nicosia, Cyprus. The Cyprus Refugee Council, a nonprofit group, said there’s now a backlog of about 8,000 asylum applications as of late 2018, and it takes three to five years to process each claim, including appeals. (AP PhotoPetros Karadjias)
In this Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018, Hawye Rasool Saleh, 32, a migrant from Iraq washes his face at his living space under a hotel in central Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus was not seen as an attractive destination for migrants seeking shelter and a new life in Europe, but that has changed as other nations in Europe have shut their borders and the economic situation has slowly improved for this small island nation.(AP PhotoPetros Karadjias)
In this Friday, Nov. 16, 2018 a homeless migrant stands on a street in central Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus was not seen as an attractive destination for migrants seeking shelter and a new life in Europe, but that has changed as other nations in Europe have shut their borders and the economic situation has slowly improved for this small island nation. (AP PhotoPetros Karadjias)
In this Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018, Hawye Rasool Saleh, 32, a migrant from Iraq holds a t-shirt at a living place under a hotel in central Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus was not seen as an attractive destination for migrants seeking shelter and a new life in Europe, but that has changed as other nations in Europe have shut their borders and the economic situation has slowly improved for this small island nation. (AP PhotoPetros Karadjias)
In this Friday, Nov. 16, 2018, migrants stand at a market stall in central Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus was not seen as an attractive destination for migrants seeking shelter and a new life in Europe, but that has changed as other nations in Europe have shut their borders and the economic situation has slowly improved for this small island nation.(AP PhotoPetros Karadjias)
In this Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018, a migrant from Africa uses his mobile in a neighborhood in central Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus was not seen as an attractive destination for migrants seeking shelter and a new life in Europe, but that has changed as other nations in Europe have shut their borders and the economic situation has slowly improved for this small island nation. (AP PhotoPetros Karadjias)
In this Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018, migrants reflected on a window of a market at a neighborhood in central city of Nicosia, Cyprus. Migrant arrivals are down overall in Europe as some countries tighten their borders, but migrant trafficking networks seem to have set their sights on Cyprus. (AP PhotoPetros Karadjias)
In this Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018, a migrant from Syria at a refugee camp in Kokkinotrimithia outside of Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus was not seen as an attractive destination for migrants seeking shelter and a new life in Europe, but that has changed as other nations in Europe have shut their borders and the economic situation has slowly improved for the small island nation. (AP PhotoPetros Karadjias)
In this Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018, a migrant with his children walk by shops at a neighborhood in central city of Nicosia, Cyprus. The Cyprus Refugee Council, a nonprofit group, said there is now a backlog of about 8,000 asylum applications as of late 2018, and it takes three to five years to process each claim, including appeals. (AP PhotoPetros Karadjias)
In this Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018, Hawye Rasool Saleh, 32, a migrant from Iraq washes at his living space under a hotel in central Nicosia, Cyprus. The Cyprus Refugee Council, a nonprofit group, said there is now a backlog of about 8,000 asylum applications as of late 2018, and it takes three to five years to process each claim, including appeals.(AP PhotoPetros Karadjias)
