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In Lebanon, poverty pushes entire families to leave by sea for Cyprus or Italy

In Lebanon, where the economic crisis has been raging for almost five years, the most vulnerable are increasingly trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe. Departures of makeshift boats towards Europe take place in the north of the country. How widespread is the phenomenon in Lebanon? 

Migrant boat off the country's northern coast, near Tripoli. Photo provided by the Lebanese army on December 31, 2022. AFP - -

By: Sophie Guignon

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From our correspondent in Beirut

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Among the candidates for this dangerous crossing, we find Syrian refugees who have arrived since the start of the war in 2011, Palestinian refugees present in Lebanon since 1948, but also an increasing number of Lebanese. This is a new fact linked to the economic crisis. 

Because of devaluation and banking restrictions, it is estimated today that 80% of the population in Lebanon lives below the poverty line and it is this great precariousness that pushes entire families to leave at all costs for lack of prospects. . In 2023 alone, around a hundred boats left northern Lebanon, with several thousand people on board, to try to reach the island of Cyprus 160 km away or Italy. There are at least 250 dead or missing.

Read alsoLebanon: migrant crossing attempts to Cyprus are increasing

In Tripoli, the large city in the north of the country, one of the poorest in the Mediterranean, Wissam Al Talawi, a 39-year-old Lebanese, testifies for RFI. He tried to reach Italy with his wife and four children. All died from drowning. He is the only one in his family to have survived. With other survivors, he filed a complaint against the smugglers. But the investigation is stalling. “

I want to tell people not to try to do this crossing with their children, because I tried, and I lost my whole family. I hope the smugglers receive the punishment they deserve. We ask for nothing other than justice. Finally, if justice does its job, because in Lebanon nothing works.

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What are the conditions of this journey, one of the most dangerous in the world? Smugglers charge between 3,000 and 7,000 euros per person for the crossing. They are heavily armed according to testimonies from survivors. The boats are precarious and overloaded. On board, migrants are regularly victims of

pullbacks

: this involves forcefully preventing a boat from leaving territorial waters or pushbacks

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that is to say reaching them to push them back. 

Also listen: Can we put an end to these migration tragedies?

The sinking of a boat leaving Lebanon in 2022 is emblematic: on April 23, the Lebanese navy intercepted a boat with 85 people on board. The 45 survivors accuse the army of deliberately sinking the ship by ramming it twice. The army, for its part, claims that the boat sank because it was overloaded. Justice closed the case. The victims' lawyer, Mohamed Sablouh, calls for the reopening of the trial against the army. “

Migrants are not numbers, they are human beings. We will not remain silent about the violence they suffered. We have been notified that the court considers that no crime was committed. We are not going to let this happen. »

After this murderous journey, those who reach Cyprus are not at the end of their troubles. The Lebanese are repatriated automatically, because there is an agreement with Cyprus. Syrians can apply for asylum, but the process can take several years. 

Also read Shipwreck off the coast of Lebanon: “Here, what future do I and my children have?”

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Continue reading on the same themes:

  • Lebanon

  • Immigration

  • International Migration

  • Syria

  • Poverty

  • Cyprus

  • Italy