“I had no idea about the division of Cyprus,” Mr. Yebga said on a chilly night at his temporary home, echoing dozens of others in his situation who express bafflement at the complex political situation. “I just thought, ‘I need to get to Europe, to be safe from harassment.’”

People smugglers and individuals who present themselves as agents for private universities in Turkish-controlled Cyprus often suggest the route to potential asylum seekers, but do not explain the intricacies of the political situation on the island.

Many asylum seekers arrive on Cyprus believing that it is somehow linked to mainland Europe (it is not), or that it belongs to the Schengen zone of passport-free travel (it does not).

Experts say this is why Cyprus emerged as a destination only after other routes to the European Union closed.

The number of asylum seekers in Cyprus was five times higher in 2019 than it was four years ago, unlike in the rest of the bloc, where those numbers have tapered off markedly since 2015.

The island’s budding migration crisis is a consequence of its fraught history and continuing division, which has defeated attempts at mediation for decades.