Cyprus police intercept 36 Syrian migrants aboard boat

NICOSIA, Cyprus – Cyprus police say they have intercepted 36 Syrian migrants, including 11 women and 14 children, after their boat was located off the Mediterranean island nation’s southeastern coast.

Police said a patrol boat located the migrants’ vessel around noon Monday off the island’s Cape Greco area. There were four infants among the children aboard the vessel.

It’s the third time in four days a Syrian migrant boat has been located off the Cape.

Interior Minister Constantinos Petrides repeated earlier Monday that a recent influx of migrant arrivals has vaulted tiny Cyprus to the top of the list of European Union member states with the most asylum applications relative to their population.

He said Cyprus now endures a “disproportionate burden” and needs the EU’s help to deal with it.