They arrived before the migrants exchange agreement took effect in 2003, and the accord does not apply to them.
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Britain has since reached a deal with Cyprus which states that anyone arriving at the bases should be treated as though they arrived on Cypriot soil.
The British bases still host a small number of Iraqi Kurds who landed in a ramshackle fishing boat in 1998, and who are now effectively stateless.
‘If the MoD can’t detect and intercept refugees, there would appear to be a significant vulnerability as yet unaddressed at a time when security and defence are apparently at the fore of the Conservative government agenda’.
The UNHCR said that it still not been able to visit the refugees because they were on a military base, but that high-level talks were under way between British and Cypriot officials and that the agency had offered to mediate.
But the boat’s engine sputtered out and the Lebanese crew fled in an inflatable dinghy.
Two fishing boats carrying 114 migrants, including 28 children, have come ashore at a British military base in Cyprus, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.
RAF Akrotiri has been used for bombing missions against the Islamic State terror group in Iraq and the MoD said the migrant crisis underlines the importance of providing humanitarian assistance in the Middle East.
In September, British Prime Minister David Cameron announced plans to expand the UK’s relocation program for Syrian refugees.
It is thought migrants have tended to avoid the island due to its relative geographical isolation.
Breached: An RAF Tornado fighter jet is seen at the Akrotiri base near the Cypriot port city of Limassol.
RAF Akrotiri is one of two sovereign territories retained by Britain on Cyprus, a British colony until 1960. Authorities initially said there were four boats, but later corrected that figure to two.
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It comes as official statistics show the number of people who have claimed asylum in Europe so far this year soared past 750,000.
