Four boats carrying migrants have landed at the RAF air base at Akrotiri in Cyprus, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.
It is believed to be the first time during the current migrant crisis in the Mediterranean that migrants have made landfall on UK sovereign territory.
The base has been used for bombing missions against the Islamic State terror group in Iraq.
No details were immediately available about where the 140 occupants of the boats - who include children - had set sail from or what nationalities they are.