An agreement was reached between the Israeli and Cypriot governments awarding Israeli high technology company Elbit Systems a 27.5-million-euro contract for a surveillance system. The head of the Israel Defence Ministry’s Directorate for International Defense Cooperation, former Brigadier General Yair Kulas and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Cyprus Andreas Louka were the ones who signed the agreement on the fourth of November. The contract has a duration of three years and reports state the system will most likely be used along the border between Cyprus and the Turkish-controlled part north of the island. The surveillance system is expected to aid the Cypriot forces in controlling the flow of asylum seeker and illegal goods coming from the Turkish-controlled part of the country. A region that has been under foreign control since 1974 and cut off from the rest of the country by the United Nations Buffer Zone also known as the Green Line. The northern part of the country remains unrecognized by all other members of the UN except for Turkey.

Cyprus has since 2015 seen an exponential rise in the arrival of asylum seekers on its borders, mostly persons fleeing the Syrian conflict. Per capita, Cyprus is now the EU country with the most asylum seekers. Elbit Systems is expected to start construction as soon as possible and have its equipment ready for use in three years’ time.