Israel President embarks on shores of Cyprus to end 70 year exile for Jews in UK

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin flew in to Cyprus Tuesday to mark 70 years since the closure of British detention camps on the island for Jews trying to reach Palestine after World War II. He was to visit a monument in Nicosia dedicated to the 2,200 children of Holocaust survivors who were born in the British colonial camps between 1946 and 1949.

Rivlin also held talks with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades. Cyprus and Israel aim to upgrade relations, "especially on energy, security, economy, tourism, research and innovation", tweeted Anastasiades.

Britain, the colonial power in Cyprus and Palestine at the time, detained about 52,000 illegal immigrants on Cyprus, mostly young orphans, and housed them in tents. The monument is situated at a present-day army camp that was known as the British Military Hospital.

Those detained had been intercepted at sea by British mandate authorities as they approached Palestine, and they were held in 12 camps on the nearby island. The camps were closed a year after the 1948 establishment of the state of Israel. "Some of the babies born in Cyprus... are now Israeli citizens in their early 70s... Today, there is a very active organisation of 'Cyprus babies' in Israel," the Jerusalem Post said Monday.

(With inputs from agencies.)