An alley in the old souk of Tripoli in northern Lebanon. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/OLJ)
They spent an entire day on the streets of Tripoli in northern Lebanon before finally being taken in by one of the city's sheikhs. Mohammad, 8, Acile, 5, and Aya, 3, were found abandoned by the side of a road in an uninhabited area of the Zeitoun Abou Samra neighborhood, in southeastern Tripoli after an alert was raised on Facebook around 11 p.m. Thursday.
"When we saw the information, we immediately contacted the manager of the 'Med News' account, Hamid al-Masri, to let him know we were ready to take the children in and asked if he could bring them to us," Sheikh Khalil Hijazi told L'Orient-Le Jour. According to this religious figure, who serves in one of the city’s mosques, the children had spent the entire day on the roadside "without water, food, and exposed to stray dogs."
"They arrived in a terrible state, very tired, and we bathed, changed and fed them," he explained.
A father in prison, a mother deported to Syria
Mohammad reportedly did not know the name of the person who left them by the roadside, according to the sheikh, who inquired about their family situation from one of their older brothers, who later came to the sheikh’s home in the same neighborhood. "Their father and older brother are currently in prison, and their mother was recently deported to Syria," added the sheikh.
A security forces officer from the Abou Samra police station, who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed that the father and older brother are in prison for "possession of hashish for the past two months." The deportation of their mother is in line with the "plan to deport Syrians in irregular situations established by the North Lebanon governorate." When contacted, Tripoli's municipality was not immediately available for comment.
The police source also noted that the three children were transferred Friday morning from Sheikh Hijazi’s home to the Abou Samra police station, awaiting their paternal aunt from Beirut, who was expected to pick them up later in the day. "This aunt contacted me last night (Thursday) to say she wanted to take them to her home in Beirut," confirmed the sheikh.
"I would have been ready to keep them longer, of course, but if a relative wants to take them in, I can only be pleased. I will try to keep in touch and get updates on them in the future, God willing," the cleric concluded.
According to UNICEF, Lebanon saw a "disturbing" rise in various forms of child abuse and abandonment in 2023. These figures are linked to the impact of the financial crisis on families, with increasing cases of neglect, physical abuse, and notably, sexual abuse.
Last month, a young boy under the age of two was rescued by police after being found in an abandoned garage in Beirut.