Cyprus says Lebanon needs EU aid to deal with migration crisis

EU member Cyprus wants Brussels to offer financial and technical aid to Lebanon to help it cope with an influx of Syrian refugees and keep them from reaching the island, its interior minister said on Wednesday.

Constantinos Ioannou also said Nicosia had offered to donate speedboats and conduct joint patrols with Lebanon after recent arrivals by sea suggested trafficker routes had shifted away from Turkey and towards the Lebanese coast.

"Its estimated that there are about 2.5 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon so you can imagine the scale of the problem Lebanon itself faces, with a population of 5-6 million and which isn't even receiving technical or financial aid from the EU," Ioannou told Cyprus state radio.

"That is something we are seeking," he added.

The latest initiative is one of several undertaken by the east Mediterranean island in recent months...