The season of irregular migration rears its head again.. the full story of the boat of death in northern Lebanon

Tripoli (Northern Lebanon) -

Syrian Ahmed Essebsi stands at the gate of the port of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, waiting anxiously for the evacuation of the missing at sea, including his wife and three children, the oldest of whom is 8 years old.

At a distance from him, the Lebanese Adnan Al-Jamal is lying on the ground, and is talking to those around him to expedite the search operations, after about 6 of his relatives drowned, and only he and two others survived last night, Saturday.

And around them were dozens of Lebanese who flocked to the port, whether to check on the fate of missing friends and relatives, or to express their anger and indignation at the return of irregular migration activity across the sea;

As a result of the living crises that afflict Lebanon, and push a large segment of people to embark on a perilous journey, to gain the status of “refugees” in Europe, instead of staying in their homeland.

Families of a number of missing persons are protesting in front of the port of Tripoli in northern Lebanon (Al-Jazeera Net)

Incident facts

Hours after sunset on the evening of Saturday, April 23, news continued of a boat sank off the coast of northern Lebanon, and then it soon became clear that it was carrying an irregular escape trip.

There are conflicting numbers regarding the number of passengers, ranging between 60 and 75 people, most of whom are Lebanese, in addition to Syrian and Palestinian families, including women and children.

Until about three in the morning, the army was able to retrieve the body of a Lebanese girl, and rescue 48 people who were on board a boat that sank while trying to smuggle them in an irregular way.

This is "off the Qalamoun beach in the north, as a result of water leakage due to high waves and the boat's excessive load," according to the official statement issued by the Lebanese Army's Directorate of Orientation.

Until Sunday morning, the army managed to retrieve 6 bodies, including the girl's, in an indefinite provisional toll, as the search is underway for other missing persons.

The story of "The Boat of Death"

According to the data obtained by Al Jazeera Net from eyewitnesses and survivors of the boat, the irregular trip was arranged by a smuggler, who is from Tripoli. An American per capita, in coordination with other parties, who are supposed to wait for the boat upon its arrival in Italy.

Here, the Syrian Ahmed Essebsi tells Al Jazeera Net, what he describes as the last moments before death, and he cannot believe that he is alive, while he waits to find his children and wife.

"I did not communicate with the smuggler directly, but through other people, and I paid 3,000 dollars for my family, as he accepted to reduce the amount for my children, and they promised me that the trip would be safe, that the boat was like a double-decker yacht, and that we would reach Italy safely," he said, crying.

Ahmed and his family have fled Syria to escape the war since 2013, but his economic conditions in Lebanon are no less bad, and "after I reached the stage of total despair, I decided to borrow from my brother in Turkey to pay the cost of the escape despite all the risks," he said.

The Lebanese Adnan Al-Jamal complains to Al-Jazeera Net about the difficult economic conditions, saying that the youth of his family who decided to escape with their children sold everything they owned to save the price of the trip, "after we lost our job and were unable to buy food or pay the electricity generator bill."

Next to him, a Palestinian youth who survived the "journey of death" was standing, awaiting the fate of 5 members of his family who are still missing at sea. He suffocated saying, "We flee from our helplessness, not because we hate our children and throw them into the sea."

Army novel

Some survivors said that the Lebanese Coast Guard intercepted their journey before the boat sank, and they assert that the winds were not strong and the waves were not high.

This caused security tension in one of the Tripoli areas, where some of the victims’ families argued with the army, which prompted the latter to impose intense security reinforcements in the city, to control any tension as a result of conflicting accounts about the circumstances of the incident.

Subsequently, the Commander of the Army's Naval Forces, Colonel Haitham Dhanawy, held a press conference on Sunday afternoon, and said that "the boat that sank is a small boat made in 1974, 10 meters long and 3 meters wide, and the permitted load is only 10 people."

He pointed out that "there were no life jackets or life jackets."

In response to the accusations, he confirmed that "the army tried to prevent the boat from starting, but it was faster than us."

"The boat's cargo did not allow it to move away from the shore, and it was not convinced of our members who suffer the same suffering, and the captain of the boat took the decision to carry out maneuvers to escape from the sentinel in a way that led to his crash," he said.

Ambulances enter the port campus to help retrieve the bodies and transport them to hospitals (Al Jazeera Net)

Migration season renews

Since the outbreak of the Syrian war in 2011, the phenomenon of irregular migration has grown in Lebanon, specifically at the maritime points in the north, and reached an unprecedented peak in 2015, and was relatively confined to the displaced Syrians.

However, with Lebanon entering the downward spiral, specifically after the fall of 2019, the phenomenon escalated again, to the top of which was Lebanese citizens seeking to escape by sea to Cyprus and the European coasts.

Since then, smuggling networks have been active on a large scale in Lebanon, and many have used them as a source of income for thousands of dollars per trip, and smugglers have become more professional in providing the confidentiality of their movements, as they do not communicate directly with those seeking escape, but through a parallel network of intermediaries.

In 2020, a similar tragic accident occurred off the shores of northern Lebanon, when a boat sank, killing dozens, without this being a deterrent to hundreds of poor families seeking to go through this dangerous and deadly experience, to escape their miserable conditions in Lebanon.

In the outcome of the year 2021, the army was able to prevent similar trips from 21 boats, with 707 people on board, who tried to escape, according to the Army’s Orientation Directorate.

UNHCR figures also indicate that at least 1,570 people, including 186 Lebanese, left Lebanon or attempted to leave irregularly by sea between January and November 2021.

This phenomenon is growing as Lebanon plunges into one of the three worst crises the world has witnessed, and about 85% of its population suffers from poverty and are unable to provide their basic necessities due to the high price and the collapse of the lira.

While the country is preparing for parliamentary elections on May 15, amid a state of great polarization between political forces, while the government has not yet been able to agree on a support program with the International Monetary Fund.