Cyprus president vows "more humane" migrant camp conditions

The president of Cyprus says his government will work to make conditions at an overcrowded migrant camp “more humane” following criticism that living arrangements for more than 350 unaccompanied minors there are inadequate

NICOSIA, Cyprus -- The president of Cyprus pledged Monday to make conditions at an overcrowded migrant camp “more humane” following criticism that the living arrangements for more than 350 unaccompanied minors there were inadequate.

President Nicos Anastasiades said after a brief visit to the Pournara camp on the outskirts of Nicosia, the capital, that any “deficiencies” at the camp that arose as a result of an influx of migrants will be “dealt with accordingly.”

The commissioner for children’s rights, Despo Michalidou, last week called conditions at the camp “miserable,” including poor food and a lack of sanitation facilities.

Anastasiades said difficulties were to be expected when nearly 5% of the ethnically split Mediterranean island nation’s population are asylum-seekers. He said Cyprus has the highest number of asylum applications per capita among the European Union's 27 nations.