Lebanese join desperate migrant flow to EU
Citizens risk arrest, drowning in the Mediterranean Sea in a quest for a better life, writes Hashem Osseiran
If he wasn’t making good money smuggling illegal migrants to the European Union by sea, Ibrahim himself might have joined the growing exodus from crisishit Lebanon. “If I didn’t work in this profession, I would have left, just like so many other people,” said the 42-year-old trafficker, who asked to use a pseudonym when he spoke to AFP in the northern city.
“Maybe I would have turned to someone to smuggle me out,” he said.
Lebanon, in the throes of a brutal economic crisis, is no longer just a launchpad for Syrian refugees and other foreign migrants. Its own desperate citizens now also risk drowning in the Mediterranean in their quest for a better life.
Ibrahim argues that, while having smuggled around 100 Lebanese nationals to Europe since 2019 makes him no angel, there is virtue in helping his compatriots. He said he took pride in taking only Lebanese nationals on his boats, and even then, only those who can produce civil registry documents.
“I get requests from Palestinians and Syrians but I am responsible only for my own countrymen,” said Ibrahim, a former school bus driver whose tumbling income led him to people smuggling.
Lebanon, a country of around six million people, is grappling with an unprecedented financial crisis that the World Bank says is on a scale usually associated with wars. The currency has crashed, people’s purchasing power has plummeted and the monthly minimum wage is now worth $22 (734 baht).
The UN’s refugee agency UNHCR said at least 1,570 individuals, including 186 Lebanese nationals, had embarked or tried to embark on illicit sea journeys from Lebanon between January and November 2021. Most were hoping to reach European Union member Cyprus, an island 175 kilometres away.
This is up from 270 passengers, including 40 Lebanese in 2019, said UNHCR spokesperson Lisa Abou Khaled.
Lives have been lost, including those of two little children, during attempted crossings over the past two years, though there is little data and no exact toll. The Lebanese army said it is diligently monitoring the 225-km coastline with radar systems and patrol boats. The army said that “Lebanese nationals who know their way around the country’s coastline” are the most common smuggling culprits.
They include Ibrahim who said he organised an illicit sea crossing to Europe in 2019 for a Lebanese family of five now residing in Germany. Since then, he said he has organised nine others, including his latest in September which saw 25 Lebanese nationals arrive in Italy. With prices ranging from $2,500 per person for a trip to Cyprus to up to $7,000 to get to Italy, Ibrahim said he can make up to $5,000 profit from a single boat journey.
“We used to have to advertise our trips,” he said. “Now people come running to us.”
Sitting on a bench on Tripoli’s coast, Bilal Moussa, 34, was watching the giant waves that almost swallowed him in November. Taking a long drag from a cigarette, the father of three said he would try again.
“There is no future here, not for us and not for our children,” said Mr Moussa, who quit his supermarket job because his monthly salary of $55 barely paid for his commute. In September, Mr Moussa decided to attempt the sea voyage to Italy. He sold his car and borrowed $1,500 from a friend to cover the $4,000 for the trip.
On Nov 19, he packed a small bag and left his home in the Dinniyeh region without even telling his wife. When he reached the Tripoli meeting point, he found around 90 passengers clambering onto a truck that would drive them to the Qalamoun region from where they would depart. They included 15 Palestinians and 10 Syrians, while the rest were Lebanese.
Two hours after the 18-metre craft set sail, and after being chased by a navy vessel, their overcrowded craft started taking on water and the boat started sinking in the dark. Panicked passengers started throwing suitcases and fuel tanks overboard.
Mr Moussa and others contacted relatives back home to send help, which arrived several hours later. A Lebanese army ship came and towed them back ashore, where passengers were interrogated and then released.
“I felt defeated because I came back, because I didn’t make it,” Mr Moussa said.“But I am going to leave again... We have no path ahead but the sea.”