Lebanese Army soldiers (Credit: AFP/File photo)
BEIRUT — The Lebanese Army announced on Thursday that it had prevented an attempted illegal sea crossing from the port of Abdeh near Tripoli in northern Lebanon.
The statement said that "two Lebanese men, who were preparing an illegal escape operation by sea from the port of Abdeh" in northern Lebanon, were intercepted by an army patrol. A raid was carried out at the home of one of the Lebanese, leading to the discovery of "48 Syrian nationals who were also preparing to leave the country illegally," the text continues. They have been arrested, and a boat has been seized.
Recent reports of people attempting to leave Lebanon by sea
- August: 130 Syrians and five Lebanese were arrested in Sheikh Zennad (Akkar) for attempting to flee Lebanon illegally by sea.
- July: The Lebanese Army arrested five Syrians in the Selaata region of Batroun, accused of organizing an illegal sea crossing.
- January to December 2022: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) claimed to have received reports of 51 boats involved in irregular transit, with a total of 4,334 passengers on board.
In 2022, would-be immigrants leaving Lebanon comprised 62.2 percent Syrians, 28 percent Lebanese and 11 percent Palestinians, according to UNHCR figures.
Political situation
On Wednesday, Lebanon's caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib agreed in a phone call with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad to visit Damascus soon to discuss the repatriation of Syrian migrants in Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported.
Bou Habib will head a delegation to discuss the situation of Syrians in Lebanon. For his part, Mekdad affirmed during the phone call that "Syria is ready to welcome refugees and facilitate their return," according to a statement issued by the Syrian Foreign Affairs Ministry.