Waiting to leave Tripoli’s ‘cemetery of the unknown’
70% of Syria refugees live in ‘extreme poverty’: UN
TRIPOLI: On the outskirts of Libya’s capital, Imad wipes the dirt from the tombstone of his brother, one of hundreds of migrants whose journey ended in the “cemetery of the unknown”. No name is marked on the grave, but at least it has a date, and with the help of the Libyan Red Crescent, 29year-old Tunisian Imad ben Salem is now certain this is the burial place of his younger brother, Qabil, 25.
But an error by a doctor and red tape have prevented him from repatriating the body for the family to grieve back home. Hundreds of migrants whose dreams of a new life in Europe were sunk in the Mediterranean are buried in Bir el-Osta Milad cemetery, awaiting repatriation if their identities are confirmed.
“My brother died with 127 others on the third day of the Feast of the Sacrifice,” the holiday marking the end of the annual Muslim hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, in September, Imad said. “I was supposed to stay three days in Libya, a week at most,” said the young Tunisian, who for more than a month has abandoned his job as a taxi driver on which eight members of his family are dependent.
“When I arrived, there was no paperwork and I came up against obstacles at every turn,” he said, angrily. “I call on the Libyan and Tunisian authorities, on the Red Crescent and the Red Cross: all I want is to take my brother’s body back to Tunisia!”
Scattered under trees and between bushes, tombs are marked with the dates on which the bodies of hapless migrants were recovered from the water or washed up on Libya’s shores. Some of them date back to 2012. If documents are found on the bodies, their names and nationalities are also marked on the tombstones. BEIRUT: More than two-thirds of Syrian refugees in Lebanon live in extreme poverty, according to a United Nations study published yesterday, up nearly 50 percent from last year. Based on an assessment of more than 4,000 refugee households, the report found that an estimated 70 percent of them are living below the Lebanese extreme poverty line of $3.84 (3.52 Euros) per day.
“This is a striking increase from 49 per cent in 2014,” said Mireille Girard, head of the UN refugee agency’s Lebanon office. The inter-agency study was conducted by the World Food Program, the refugee agency and the UN’s children’s fund. Refugees are facing a dire situation as their savings dry up, work opportunities are increasingly rare and humanitarian aid packages grow smaller.
According to the study, the refugees are borrowing to cover even their most basic needs, including rent, food, and healthcare, putting nearly 90 percent of them in debt. Household spending dropped to $493 per month from $762 in 2014, reflecting reduced quality of food consumed and a heightened reliance on debt and humanitarian aid.
300 graves ready The Red Crescent has no precise figure, but says that several hundred men, women and children are buried in what locals have dubbed “the cemetery of the unknown”. “This experience will always be engraved in our memory. It’s impossible to forget the corpses... We fear that one day we will be faced by someone we know,” said Abdelhamid el-Swei, who is in charge of transporting bodies to the cemetery for the Red Crescent. In one corner of the cemetery, 300 graves have been dug ready for more migrants who perish at sea and are given funerals in keeping with Muslim rites. Gravedigger Abderrazaq Abdelkarim recalls that they needed two days to prepare graves when a boat carrying 120 people sank a month ago.
The Red Crescent follows a set procedure: first, a frontline team is alerted, another is tasked with verifying the information and a third is sent to recover the bodies. The remains are then handed to forensic doctors, registered with a case number and then buried in Bir el-Osta Milad. “Not long ago we were working seven days straight,” said Hussam Nasr, a Red Crescent volunteer for the past 12 years.
He recalled one instance when they had to use ropes to haul five bodies from the water and 20 meters up a cliff side. In the case of Imad’s brother, the body was identified by the Red Crescent because of his tattoos. But “the forensic doctor... failed to mention the tattoos in his report and the authorities refuse to carry out a DNA test although it’s perfectly clear that this is my brother. I know he’s here,” Imad said. “He was the youngest among us. I won’t abandon him here. I will not leave without him.” — AFP
To cope, families are pulling their children from school so that they can work. Only five percent of 15-17 year olds attended school this year. Instead, many work in agricultural fields for as little as $4 a day. “The Syria crisis is a tragedy for children on an unimaginable scale and continues to significantly impact their protection, wellbeing and development across the entire region,” said Tanya Chapuisat, head of the UN children’s agency in Lebanon.
“Children’s exposure to violence, poverty and displacement are having enormous consequences, in the immediate and longterm,” she added.
UN agencies, partner organizations and Lebanon’s government are requesting $2.48 billion for the coming year to support refugees and host communities.
The UN’s findings “represent an urgent call to action, demanding that no time is spared in addressing the increasing needs and vulnerabilities of Syrian refugees here in Lebanon,” said Gawaher Atif of the World Food Program. More than four million refugees have fled Syria for the relative safety of the neighboring countries, according to the UN. Millions more have been internally displaced. — AFP