UNIFIL soldiers preparing to rescue 36 people aboard a makeshift boat off the coast of Lebanon on Sept. 14, 2020. (Credit: Twitter/@UNIFIL_)
BEIRUT — The Internal Security forces announced Tuesday that it arrested the “mastermind” behind a human smuggling operation that took place in September 2020 and resulted in the deaths of seven people.
Here’s what we know:
• The ISF said that on Jan. 5, they arrested three people after finding them in possession of golden bracelets worth around $7,000. The accused later confessed the bracelets to be a profit from smuggling operations to Cyprus that they participated in.
• According to the ISF’s report, investigations conducted after this arrest resulted in the capture of the “mastermind” behind the human trafficking operation, which took place in Tripoli on Sept. 14, 2020, and resulted in the deaths of seven people, two of whom were children.
• On Sept. 18, 2021, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees issued a statement saying it was "deeply concerned by the spike in self-organized movements by boats to Cyprus" and "distraught by the deaths and dangerous situations that many vulnerable men, women and children are put into as they desperately search for means of survival."
• UNHCR also said that there have been at least 21 boat voyage attempts from Lebanon to Cyprus by Syrians, Lebanese and migrant workers between July and September of last year amid worsening economic conditions in Lebanon.