NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus said Saturday it’s suspending processing all asylum applications by Syrian nationals because large numbers of refugees from the war-torn country continue to reach the island nation by boat, primarily from Lebanon.
In a written statement, the Cypriot government said the suspension is also partly because of ongoing efforts to get the European Union to redesignate some areas of the war-torn country as safe zones to enable repatriations.
The drastic step comes in the wake of Cypriot President Nicos Christodoulides’ visit to Lebanon earlier week to appeal to authorities there to stop departures of migrant-laden boats from their shores. The request comes in light of a 27-fold increase in migrant arrivals to Cyprus so far this year over the same period last year.
According to Cyprus Interior Ministry statistics, some 2,140 people arrived by boat to EU-member Cyprus between Jan. 1 and April 4 of this year, the vast majority of them Syrian nationals departing from Lebanon. In contrast, only 78 people arrived by boat to the island nation in the corresponding period last year.
On Monday, Christodoulides and Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on the European Union to provide financial support to help cash-strapped Lebanon stop migrants from reaching Cyprus.
Just days prior to his Lebanon trip, the Cypriot president said that he had personally asked EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen to intercede with Lebanese authorities to curb migrant boat departures.
Although the EU should provide “substantial” EU support to Lebanon, Christodoulides said any financial help should be linked to how effectively Lebanese authorities monitor their coastline and prevent boat departures.
Lebanon and Cyprus already have a bilateral deal where Cypriot authorities would return migrants attempting to reach the island from Lebanon. But Cypriot Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou has said that Lebanon is refusing to hold up its end of the deal because of domestic pressures.
Lebanon — which is coping with a crippling economic crisis since 2019 — hosts some 805,000 U.N.-registered Syrian refugees, of which 90% live in poverty, the U.N.’s refugee agency says. Lebanese officials estimate the actual number is far higher, ranging between 1.5 and 2 million. Many have escaped the civil war in their country which entered its 14th year.
Ioannou this week visited Denmark, Czechia and Greece to drum up support for a push to get the EU to declare parts of Syria as safe. Doing so would enable EU nations to send back Syrians hailing from those “safe” areas.
The Cypriot interior minister said he and his Czech and Danish counterparts to draft an official document for the EU executive to get a formal discussion on the Syrian safe zone idea going.
Additionally, Ioannou said he hand his Czech counterpart agreed on a sending joint fact-finding mission to Syria to determine which areas in the country are safe.
However, U.N. agencies, human rights groups, and Western governments maintain that Syria is not yet safe for repatriation.
Follow AP’s global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
FILE - A man walks by the fence at the Pournara migrant reception center in Kokkinotrimithia outside of capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Jan. 24, 2024. Cyprus says it’s suspending processing all asylum applications by Syrian nationals because of large numbers of refugees from the war-torn country that continue to reach the island nation by boat, primarily from Lebanon. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are drifting Wednesday as Wall Street waits to hear from the Federal Reserve about where interest rates may be heading.
The S&P 500 was down 0.3% in afternoon trading, coming off its first losing month in the last six. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 142 points, or 0.4%, as of 1:43 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% lower.
CVS Health tumbled 16.6% after reporting weaker results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It said it’s been hurt by increased costs at its Medicare Advantage business, and it cut its forecast for profit over the full year.
Other big names also dragged on the market following their profit reports, including Starbucks, Advanced Micro Devices and Super Micro Computer. But the focus is on Washington, D.C., where the Federal Reserve will announce its latest move on interest rates in the afternoon.
No one expects the Fed to make any change to its main interest rate, which is sitting at its highest level since 2001 in hopes of grinding down on the economy enough to get inflation under control. But Fed Chair Jerome Powell will give a press conference after the rate announcement, and he could give some guidance about the chances for a cut to rates later this year.
He recently hinted rates may stay high for a while as Fed officials wait for more confirmation inflation is heading down toward their 2% target. That was a disappointment for Wall Street, after the Fed earlier had indicated it was penciling in three cuts to rates during 2024.
Traders had been even more optimistic after coming into the year forecasting six or more cuts to rates. Now, many are betting on the possibility of just one, if any, according to data from CME Group. A string of reports on inflation this year that have come in stubbornly higher than forecast has dashed hopes for multiple rate cuts.
Without the benefit of easing rates, which can goose the economy and investment prices, companies will need to deliver better profits.
Starbucks dropped 17.2% after falling short of expectations for both profit and revenue in the latest quarter. Sales trends weakened at its stores outside the United States in particular, and it cut its full-year forecasts for profit and revenue.
Super Micro Computer, which has been one of Wall Street’s hottest stars, gave back 14.6% despite topping expectations for profit. The company, which sells server and storage systems used in AI and other computing, fell shy of analysts’ forecasts for revenue. Expectations had bult up after its stock had already tripled this year amid a broader frenzy on Wall Street around artificial-intelligence technology.
Advanced Micro Devices dropped 9.1% despite reporting profit that matched expectations. Its revenue came in a bit shy of forecasts, as did the midpoint of its forecasted range for revenue in the current quarter.
They helped to offset a 1.6% gain for Amazon, which reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The retail behemoth credited reaccelerating growth at its cloud-computing business, in part, as it benefits from demand for AI.
Chemical producer DuPont was another winner, up 7.1%, after reporting stronger profit than expected. It said demand from customers in the semiconductor industry continued to recover.
In the bond market, Treasury yields eased a bit following some weaker-than-expected reports on the economy.
One report from the Institute for Supply Management said the U.S. manufacturing sector unexpectedly fell back into contraction last month. Economists had been looking for one of the hardest-hit areas of the economy to stay steady. Perhaps more concerningly, manufacturers also reported prices were rising at a faster rate.
A separate report said U.S. employers were advertising slightly fewer jobs at the end of March than economists expected. The hope on Wall Street has been that a cooldown in the number of openings could help keep the job market in check, not allowing it to get so hot that it adds upward pressure on workers' wages and inflation overall. The downside is that if it weakens too much, a major support for the economy could give out.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 4.65% from 4.68% late Wednesday.
The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, eased to 5.01% from 5.04%. It's still near its highest level since November.
In stock markets abroad, many exchanges were shut for holidays. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.3%, and London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.3%.
AP Writers Matt Ott and Zimon Zhong contributed.
A banner for cruise operator Viking, marking its initial public offering, hangs on the front of the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)
FILE - A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo, on April 22, 2024. Asian stocks fell Wednesday, May 1, 2024 with most of the markets in the region closed for a holiday. Meanwhile, U.S. stocks closed out their worst month since September. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
FILE- A person looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's stock prices at a securities firm in Tokyo, on April 30, 2024. Asian stocks fell Wednesday, May 1, 2024 with most of the markets in the region closed for a holiday. Meanwhile, U.S. stocks closed out their worst month since September. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
