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MIGRATION

More bodies from migrant boat shipwreck arrive in Lebanon

A Syrian Red Crescent convoy transported the bodies of the shipwreck victims — a mother, father and four children —to the Lebanon-Syria border, where the victims' family was waiting.

More bodies from migrant boat shipwreck arrive in Lebanon

Dozens flocked from the town of Wadi al-Jamous, North Lebanon, to the Lebanese-Syrian border point to wait for the shipwreck victims' arrival. (Courtesy of Michel Hallak/L'Orient Today)

BEIRUT — The bodies of six family members — all of whom were aboard the migrant boat that departed Lebanon and capsized off the coast of Syria last week — were returned to Lebanon on Tuesday, L'Orient Today's correspondent in the north reported.

A Syrian Red Crescent convoy transported the bodies of the shipwreck victims — a mother, father and four children —from al-Basel Hospital in the Syrian city of Tartus to the al-Arida crossing on the Lebanon-Syria border, where the victims' family was waiting. From there, the bodies were transported by the Lebanese Red Cross ambulances.

Dozens of mourners, led by local municipality head Sheikh Khoder Akkari, flocked from the victims' hometown, Wadi al-Jamous, to the border crossing to wait for the bodies' arrival. Akkari said the victims will be buried in their hometown after "a last farewell and prayer for their souls."

The death toll from the capsized migrant boat rose to over 100 on Sunday, according to the director of the Syrian port of Banias, Nawfaq Ibrahim. The rising toll makes the shipwreck one of the deadliest in the eastern Mediterranean.

The bodies of six family members — a mother, father and four children — are mourned by dozens in the town of Wadi al-Jamous, North Lebanon. The family members were aboard a migrant boat that departed Lebanon and capsized off the coast of Syria last week. (Courtesy of Michel Hallak)

More than 150 passengers of Lebanese, Palestinian and Syrian origin were aboard the boat, including children and elderly people. The bodies of the victims identified as Lebanese or Palestinians residing in Lebanon are being transported to the country.

In Qarqaf, in Akkar, the funeral of a Lebanese woman was held Saturday evening. She was the mother of four children, three of whom also died in the shipwreck. The fourth child has not yet been found. The woman's husband survived the tragedy.

On Saturday, the Lebanese Army said that it arrested a Lebanese national who "admitted to organizing the recent smuggling operation from Lebanon to Italy by sea."

Lebanon, a country which hosts more than a million refugees from Syria's civil war, has been mired in a financial crisis branded by the World Bank as one of the worst in modern times. Nearly three years of economic collapse have turned the country into a launchpad for migrants, with its own citizens joining Syrian and Palestinian refugees clamoring to leave by dangerous sea routes.

In a Tuesday statement, the Access Center for Human Rights (ACHR) urged European countries "to ensure legal and safe pathways for migration," demanding, along with EuroMed Rights and other rights organizations, that "Cyprus and Greece abide by EU and international obligations to respect the right to seek asylum and the principle of non-refoulement."


The bodies of six family members — a mother, father and four children — are mourned by dozens in the town of Wadi al-Jamous, North Lebanon. The family members were aboard a migrant boat that departed Lebanon and capsized off the coast of Syria last week. (Courtesy of Michel Hallak)

Lebanese authorities have a bilateral agreement with Cyprus since 2002 regarding the return of irregular migrants, but Cypriot authorities have been more aggressive in recent years in pushing back migrants and asylum seekers coming from Lebanon by sea.

In an open letter published last month, a group of human rights organizations alleged: “Since March 2020,  under a non-public agreement with Lebanon, Cypriot authorities have repeatedly resorted to pushing back boats  to  Lebanon  and  have denied individuals access to  the  territory and the asylum procedure.” This has caused smuggler boats' primary destination to shift from Cyprus to Italy.

The ACHR, a Beirut and Paris-based NGO, also urged Lebanon to "abide by its obligations under international treaties, including its obligation not to deport or forcibly return individuals at risk of torture. This means immediately halting arbitrary deportations of Syrians from Lebanon to Syria and adopting policies that guarantee the necessary protection of Syrian refugees in Lebanon."

Reporting contributed by Michel Hallak.

BEIRUT — The bodies of six family members — all of whom were aboard the migrant boat that departed Lebanon and capsized off the coast of Syria last week — were returned to Lebanon on Tuesday, L'Orient Today's correspondent in the north reported.A Syrian Red Crescent convoy transported the bodies of the shipwreck victims — a mother, father and four children —from al-Basel Hospital in the...