TV2's report on the tragedy of the drowning of refugees from Lebanon: 24 children among 97 Syrians, Lebanese and Palestinians
Shortly before midnight last Monday, TV2 published a news article about the tragedy of the drowning of Lebanese, Syrian, and Palestinian refugees who had left Lebanon, which stated the following:
“Ninety-seven people, including 24 children, died after a boat traveling from Lebanon to Europe capsized in the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday, according to Lebanese Transport Minister Ali Hami, as reported by Al Jazeera.” .
More than 150 people were aboard the boat, which set sail from crisis-stricken Lebanon hoping to reach Italy. The death toll rose sharply over the weekend, and only 20 people have been found alive so far.
It is one of the deadliest boat disasters in the Mediterranean. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, described it as a heartbreaking tragedy.
Filippo Grandi said that most of the people on board the ship were either Lebanese, Syrians, or Palestinians.
Man arrested on charges of human trafficking
Al Jazeera, which spoke to a number of survivors, said the boat lost control due to high waves and capsized off the Syrian city of Tartus, about 50 kilometers north of Tripoli in Lebanon.
The Secretary-General of the Higher Relief Commission in Lebanon, Mohammed Khair, said in a statement on Sunday that five Lebanese and eight Palestinians who were on board the boat are still receiving treatment at Al-Basel Hospital in Tartous and will be sent to Lebanon afterwards.
The Lebanese army announced the arrest of a Lebanese man who confessed to organizing the latest human smuggling operation from Lebanon to Italy by sea.
Families in Lebanon are holding funerals throughout the weekend after beginning to receive the bodies of their relatives across the Arida border crossing into Syria on Friday. Others are still waiting for the bodies of their loved ones.
Tamara Alrifai, spokesperson for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), told Al Jazeera that an estimated 25-30 Palestinian refugees were on board the boat. Most of them were from the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon.
According to Tamara Al-Rifai, two of the Palestinians on board the boat were UNRWA school students.
The number of refugees is increasing
The disaster highlights the extreme poverty and growing desperation that have forced so many people in Lebanon to attempt the perilous crossing of the Mediterranean Sea in the hope of reaching Europe.
Lebanon, which hosts more than one million refugees from the war in Syria, has been suffering from a financial crisis since 2019 that the World Bank has described as one of the worst crises in modern times.
Since 2020, Lebanon has seen an increase in the number of Lebanese citizens joining Palestinian and Syrian refugees in attempting perilous boat journeys in search of a better life, resulting in a doubling of the number of people who left or attempted to leave Lebanon by sea between 2020 and 2021, according to the UNHCR, and the number increased again by more than 70% in 2022.
Many of those on board the boat were Palestinian refugees who have lived since 1948 throughout Lebanon in overcrowded, makeshift camps without basic infrastructure. Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon lack basic rights such as citizenship, access to health care, or education.
Most boats sailing from Lebanon head towards the EU member state of Cyprus, which is located approximately 175 kilometers west of Lebanon.”.
(This was a translation of the news content published on the TV2 website)
