Families mourn as at least 71 die on Lebanon migrant boat

Tripoli, September 23 (BNA) The Lebanese Minister of Transport said that at least 71 people died when the migrant boat they were on sank off the Syrian coast after they sailed from Lebanon earlier this week, while search operations continued on Friday.

It marks the deadliest trip of its kind so far from Lebanon, where growing economic desperation has prompted many to board rickety and overcrowded boats in hopes of reaching Europe, Reuters reports.

Syrian authorities began finding the bodies off the coast of Tartus on Thursday afternoon. The Syrian Ministry of Transport quoted survivors as saying that the boat left from the Miniyeh area in northern Lebanon on Tuesday, with between 120 and 150 passengers on board, bound for Europe.

The family of Mustafa Misto, a Lebanese who was on the boat with his wife and three young children, accepted their condolences in their apartment in the poor neighborhood of Bab El Raml in the northern city of Tripoli.

“We have no one but God,” shouted an elderly relative as mourners paid their respects.

People fearing for their relatives were among the dead who gathered at the border crossing with Syria, where the bodies were due to be brought later in the day.

Lebanon’s Transport Minister Ali Hamiya said 20 survivors are receiving treatment in Syrian hospitals, most of them Syrians – about a million of whom live in Lebanon as refugees.

Palestinians living in a refugee camp in the north said that dozens of people on board had come from the camp.

The boat is “too small” and made of wood, Hamiyah said, describing such sailing as an almost daily event organized by people who don’t care about safety.

Samer Qabresli, director general of Syrian Ports, said rescue efforts were continuing on Friday.

This series of trips has fueled the financial meltdown in Lebanon in the past three years – one of the worst ever in the world. Poverty rates have skyrocketed among the population of 6.5 million.

Cyprus rushed to search and rescue teams late on Monday and Tuesday when, within hours, two ships carrying migrants from Lebanon sent distress signals; There were 300 on one ship, and 177 on the other. The island’s Joint Rescue Coordination Center said that in those cases, all those on board were rescued.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told Reuters earlier this month that the number of people who left Lebanon or attempted to leave by sea nearly doubled in 2021 compared to 2020.

It rose again by more than 70% in 2022 compared to the same period last year.

In April, a migrant boat set off from near Tripoli sank while intercepting the Lebanese Navy off the coast.

On board the ship were about 80 Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian immigrants, 40 of whom were rescued, seven deaths were confirmed, and about 30 are still officially missing.

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