Families of the "detained" migrants who were rescued off the coast of Greece after being stranded near the Maltese coast staged a sit-in on Sunday in Akkar, North Lebanon, demanding their family members' release. (Photo supplied by Michel Hallak)
BEIRUT — Families of the migrants who were rescued off the coast of Greece after being stranded aboard a vessel in the Mediterranean Sea staged a sit-in Sunday in al-Abda Square, Akkar, North Lebanon, blocking the road and demanding the Lebanese authorities take action and coordinate with their Greek counterparts to release the migrants who were "detained" after being rescued, our correspondent in North Lebanon reported.
Roughly 60 passengers, of whom 20 are Lebanese, from the village of Bebnine, Akkar, set sail from north Lebanon aboard a vessel with a Syrian captain. The boat was stranded for days near the Greek and Maltese coasts without food or water before the passengers were rescued on Wednesday by the Greek coastguard.
A four-year-old Syrian child, who was aboard the migrant boat, died while being transferred to a Greek hospital, according to our correspondent.
The families of the migrants explained during their sit-in Sunday that they have not heard "any news from their families" who made it to Greece, and that the last contact they had with them "indicated that they were being subjected to various types of torture by the Greek authorities." The families added that they "will stage a sit-in in the coming days in front of the Greek Embassy in Beirut if our demands are not met."
Muhammad Talib, a mukhtar (a local official responsible for records) who joined the protesters in Tripoli, pointed out that "these young men left this hell of a country in search of a better life and they ended up detained" on the Greek island of Crete. Taleb urged the head of the Lebanese General Security, Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, as well as Maj. Gen. Muhammad Khair, the secretary-general of the Higher Relief Commission, "to intensify efforts with the Greek authorities in order to release [the migrants] so that they continue their journey or to send them back to Lebanon."
Abou Ayman al-Moshmshani, 62, told L'Orient Today on Wednesday that his son, daughter-in-law and five grandchildren were aboard the boat, along with another of his grandsons. "They were rescued and are now in Greece. Those who are sick have been hospitalized and the others are being questioned by Greek authorities." He added that the passengers were all hoping to get to Italy to stay there or to enter Germany.
Additional reporting by Michel Hallak.