With tears streaming down her cheeks, a young girl holds up a picture of her grandfather, Mohammad Rashidi, 64, who has been sentenced to 30 months in prison in Cyprus after arriving in the country from Bebnine, Akkar, on a clandestine boat, May 20, 2024. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Children ran around clutching photos of their fathers, the posters nearly as large as they were. Two pregnant women, each holding the hands of their young, approached the press, their faces etched with worry. Nearby, around 20 Army and security personnel stood in formation, equipped with batons, helmets and shields.
A crowd of predominantly women and children gathered outside the Cypriot embassy in Louaizeh, Baabda, on Monday to urge Lebanese authorities and Cypriot diplomats to negotiate the return of their sons, husbands and fathers. The detained men, from the village of Bibnine in Lebanon’s Akkar governorate, undertook the perilous journey to Europe by sea in hopes of building a better life in Europe. Instead, many were detained and imprisoned upon arrival to Cyprus.
Attempted migrant crossings
Boats continue to carry Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian migrants desperate to reach Europe and find a job amid Lebanon's ongoing economic crisis.
Bebnine, in the far north of Lebanon, is home to some 70,000 families, according to the town's mukhtar and head of the Akkar Mukhtar Association, Zaher Kassar, who was present at the sit-in.
Traditionally reliant on fishing, this community was severely impacted by the economic crisis, ongoing since 2019. The community was particularly affected by the spike in fuel prices, cutting into the already modest profits earned by fishermen operating small boats.
Around 21 Lebanese men have ended up behind bars in the last year, according to Kassar. However, when asked about the number of detainees, the Cypriot embassy in Lebanon’s spokesperson, Serge Abou Samra, could not confirm the exact number.
A mother holds up a passport photo of her 36-year-old son Ahmad Awed, who pretended to be Syrian to travel on board the migrant boat and was sentenced to 18 months in prison in Cyprus, May 20, 2024. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient Today)
Families desperate for news
Alaa al-Meshmeshani, eight months pregnant and unemployed, stands among the crowd, surrounded by her two children, aged nine and three, while holding her one-and-a-half-year-old baby in her arms. Her husband, 33-year-old fisherman Mahmoud al-Meshmeshani, has been detained in Cyprus for three months.
Before he boarded the boat, Mahmoud called her, revealing his plan to leave for Cyprus. Although initially “shocked” by the news, Alaa was "hopeful" that her husband would reach Cyprus and secure a better life for their family. She did not hear from him untill he called her from the detention cell in Cyprus two weeks later.
“[The Cypriot authorities] are detaining people who went out to look for better conditions for their families,” Kassar lamented. “They went out to look for food and healthcare for their sick children; they were desperate, these are the people they put behind bars.”
“If they have any sense of humanity in them they would release them,” Kassar said. It’s often heard in Bibnine that the Lebanese are judged more harshly than Syrians or Palestinians in Cyprus. A source familiar with the case previously told L'Orient Today that "illegal entry into the island is not sufficient grounds for detention; there must probably be something else.”
However, a source close to caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati told L'Orient Today that “the Cypriot authorities have arrested [the migrants] most probably because of their illegal crossing into the country.”
Samra told L'Orient Today that the Ambassador "expressed appreciation for [the families] coming in person to the embassy to inform [her] about the issue and said that [she] will convey the information they shared to the Cypriot authorities."
"The Ambassador explained that the issue is being looked into by the competent authorities of the Government of Cyprus following a request by the Lebanese authorities and the embassy of Lebanon in Cyprus," Abou Samra added.
'Message will be delivered'
A delegation representing the families was allowed inside the embassy to speak with the Ambassador of Cyprus to Lebanon, Maria Hadjithedosiou. The delegation was made up of Kassar, the mukhtar of Akkar Ali Rashidi and Roula Kowaiza, whose husband Mohammad, 47, has been sentenced to five years in Cyprus’ prison."We explained to her the poor economic and health conditions that lead these young people to make the trip to Cyprus,” Kassar told L'Orient Today following his meeting with the Ambassador. The recent visits of the Cypriot president to Lebanon has spurred mukhtars and family members into action.
Army and security personnel, armed with batons, helmets, and shields, stand outside the Cypriot embassy in Luize, Baabda, May 20, 2024. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient Today)
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen announced €1 billion in aid for Lebanon during a visit on May 2. The donation is aimed at "reviving the economy" and launching several projects, including border protection. Von der Leyen's visit coincided with that of Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulidis, whose country has repeatedly warned of an influx of migrants making the perilous journey across the Mediterranean from Lebanon.
Following his meeting with Christodoulides, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, promised the families a response within ten days. The families were hoping the men would be released last Tuesday, but their attempts to obtain a response from the Prime Minister's office were unsuccessful.
A list of 30 names of those thought to have left Lebanese shores for Cyprus was provided by Lebanon to Cypriot authorities. However, according to a senior source at the Serail, “a number” of people listed were not accounted for in Cypriot prisons or detention centers. Their families were informed and the Foreign Ministry is following up on the issue through Lebanon’s embassy in Cyprus.
“Just like the Europeans want peace and security of their countries, we want our children back,” Kassar said. “We do not want anyone to migrate irregularly and we do not want anyone to get detained.”
Mohammad Kowaiza took the boat after his mother died and he was at a loss as to how to help his cancer-stricken father, his daughter Kholoud Kowaiza, 17, told L'Orient Today. He made the journey for free, as he offered his services to the smuggler, a Syrian national. Kowaiza told his family that upon arrival, when the migrants were detained, several of them, prompted by the real smuggler, falsely claimed that Kowaiza was their smuggler, his wife Roula said. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
A young boy holds up a placard that reads, "Thank you Cyprus for welcoming guests who escaped death seeking refuge in your country," May 20, 2024. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient Today)
“We are waiting for positive news soon,” Kassar said, adding that they are demanding amnesty for the detained men from the Cypriot authorities.
Salwa Trab, mother of Hasan Rashidi, 17, also detained in Cyprus, said the families weren’t ready to give up. “If they don’t release them, we are coming back.”