Shipwreck off Syria: Many Palestinians fleeing misery among victims
In the Nahr El-Bared camp, on the Lebanese-Syrian border, the bodies of migrants who died in the sinking of their boat off the coast of Syria are recovered by their relatives on September 24, 2022. AP - Bilal Hussein
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The new still provisional assessment of the sinking of a boat leaving Lebanon, which occurred on September 22, is now 94 dead.
The boat, overloaded with passengers who wanted to reach Italy, sank off Syria.
Among the victims, Lebanese, Syrians, but also Palestinians, with a very precarious status in Lebanon.
Report on the Lebanese-Syrian border.
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From our special correspondent at the Arida border post,
Laure Stephan
Descending from a pick-up, young Palestinians hurry to the border.
They want to welcome the remains of relatives, who must be repatriated from Syria.
More than 30 Palestinians from the Nahr El-Bared camp were
on board the sinking boat
, residents said.
Najwa collapsed.
His brother survived, but he lost his wife and children.
“
Seven members of my family were on board, six are ''disappeared''.
My brother saw his little girl dead.
I had advised him against leaving… When their boat set sail, there were engine problems.
They wanted to turn around, but the driver refused.
So many young people leave by sea
,” she says.
Mohamed, Najwa's brother, a nurse, had borrowed 10,000 dollars for this journey which turned into a tragedy.
At the border, the atmosphere is confused and the wait continues.
The process of identifying remains in Syria is long.
Jihad, a Palestinian Red Crescent volunteer, explains:
“
The families of the Palestinian victims are in Syria.
Either they manage to identify their relatives, or they submit to a DNA test.
These departures by sea are because of the living conditions.
Every day, there are boats leaving.
This is not the first, nor the last.
»
Thursday's shipwreck is the heaviest tragedy since a flow of migration took place from Lebanon, against a backdrop of collapse.
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Lebanon
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Palestinian territories
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