On a boat ten meters long and three meters wide 84 people. The wreck of this boat last Saturday outpaced its population. Tripoli, in the north of Lebanon. Seven people died, including a 40-day-old baby. Rather, there are seven bodies recovered. But on the shores of this Lebanese city there is still at least 39 peopleAccording to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). As the hours pass, the probability of not being found alive increases. Or not to be found.
Lebanon It was once a transit point for refugees from elsewhere in the Middle East to the shores of Europe. Today worst economic crisis in modern history deports its own citizens. Of the 84 passengers on the boat, only 11 of them were Syrian nationals, seven of them are dead or missing. The rest were Lebanese. In desperation, they dreamed of reaching a safe harbor on Saturday night. But according to survivors, Lebanese navy broke his ship and his chances for the future with him.
controversial answer
now he Lebanese government responded to the deadliest naval event of recent years with a controversial measure. Executive “instructed his commander” in an emergency session Army making a transparent investigation On the circumstances of the incident under the supervision of the relevant judicial authority”, Minister of Information, Ziad Makari. The victims and relatives of the disappeared, crowded in the Tripoli harbor, showed their fierce displeasure that it was these soldiers who were responsible for the shipwreck.
But the story of the army is different. “The maneuver of the boat driver to avoid us provoked the coalitionsaid the general Hayssam Dannaoui, army commander. According to the military, the boat had a maximum capacity. 10 passengers. It took seconds for the boat, whose capacity had increased to eight times after the impact, to sink. This is more than 80 men, women and children, Italian coastFrom where they want to go to Germany.
$1,000 per person
After selling most of their belongings for this trip, they had to pay a thousand dollars per person to the person responsible for organizing the dangerous crossing. Boat built in 1974. This is not the only recent tragedy that has fueled poverty in Lebanon’s second largest city, Tripoli. The poorest city in the Mediterranean. At the beginning of the year, there was a scandal involving young Tripoli people who wanted to escape from the misery and took shelter in the heat of the war. terrorist organizations Iraq.
Also, this event comes at an important political moment as the country prepares for the election. parliamentary election. In three weeks, on May 15, the Lebanese community will vote for the first time since the start of the economic crisis in 2019. mass protests The explosion of the port of Beirut on the same autumn and August 4, 2020. Since Saturday night, the youth of Tripoli have expressed their anger and shock. tearing up election posters The political class they see as responsible for this tragedy
Source: Informacion
