Europe’s human rights watchdog urges Cyprus to let migrants stuck in UN buffer zone seek asylum

A senior official with Europe's top human rights watchdog has urged the government of ethnically divided Cyprus to allow passage to nearly three dozen asylum seekers out of a UN-controlled buffer zone where they have been stranded in tents for months.

Michael O'Flaherty, the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a letter released on Wednesday that despite receiving food, water and other aid, some 35 people, including young children, continue to face "poor living conditions" that make it difficult for them to obtain items such as formula milk and diapers for babies.

The migrants, who come from countries including Syria, Iran, Sudan, Afghanistan and Cameroon are stuck in a buffer zone that separates the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north of the Eastern Mediterranean island nation and the Greek Cypriot south where the internationally recognized...