Child who drowned in migrants' shipwreck to be transferred to Nahr al-Bared camp

BEIRUT — The Lebanese Red Cross received the body of an eight-year-old Palestinian child, Hassan Osama Nafez, from the Syrian Red Crescent at the Arida border point, in preparation for transferring it to Nahr al-Bared camp to be handed over to his relatives, Tuesday.

Nafez had died with over 100 others in the shipwreck of a migrant boat that left Lebanon in September and sank off the northwestern Syrian port city of Tartous.

His family members recently identified him in Al-Basel Hospital in Tartus.

The UN children's agency, UNICEF, had said that 10 children appeared to be "among those who lost their lives" in the shipwreck.

"Years of political instability and economic crisis in Lebanon have pushed many children and families into poverty, affecting their health, welfare and education," UNICEF added.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA,  said: "No one gets on these death boats lightly. People are taking these perilous decisions, risking their lives in search of dignity."

Lazzarini said more must be done "to offer a better future and address a sense of hopelessness in Lebanon and across the region, including among Palestine refugees."

Antonio Vitorino, head of the International Organization for Migration, said: "People looking for safety should not be compelled to take such perilous and often deadly migration journeys."

In September, Italian authorities also rescued 250 migrants who had been stuck for several days in the waters off Malta.

In April, a migrant boat with dozens of people aboard sank off the coast of Tripoli, North Lebanon, after the Lebanese Army intercepted the vessel. Around 40 people were killed, with dozens still missing.

According to the Turkish coast guard, more than 30,000 irregular migrants were intercepted so far in 2022, more than double the number in the same period last year.

Additional reporting by Michel Hallak