Lebanese army arrests 64 people trying to sail to Europe

LEBANESE army arrests 64 migrants namely Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians trying to sail to Europe

The migrants, Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians, were all detained and were being questioned, except for one pregnant woman who was bleeding and was taken to hospital, according to a Lebanese Army statement.

The migrants were taken into custody before their boat was able to set sail and were apprehended near the Sheikh Znad area, a few kilometres from the northern city of Tripoli.

This attempt came weeks after a boat carrying more than 60 migrants capsized on April 23 off the coast of Tripoli, Lebanon’s second-largest and most impoverished city.

Seven bodies were recovered in the tragedy,  with 47 people rescued and some still missing. At the time survivors blamed the Lebanese navy for causing the accident by ramming into the migrants’ boat.

Since its economic meltdown began in late 2019 thousands of people have left the country by sea, seeking a better life in Europe but for years prior to that Lebanon had been a country where refugees fled to.

Lebanon is a small nation of 6 million people, including 1 million Syrian refugees who fled the war in their country which erupted in 2011. Lebanon is also home to tens of thousands of Palestinians, most of them descendants of people displaced after Israel was created in 1948.

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