[ad_1]
Sawsan Al Abtah wrote in Asharq Al-Awsat:
A state of anger was imposed yesterday in the streets of Tripoli, after the funeral of the young Muhammad Al-Hosni, who was found drowned kilometers from Saadiyat, in southern Lebanon, after trying to escape in one of the death boats that They left the northern coasts, towards Cyprus and Europe.
Muhammad may be lucky because his body was found, while about 10 people, who were in the same boat, were still missing, including his friend Abdul Latif Al Hayani and his cousin Mustafa Al-Dinawi, all in their early twenties. The ship, which was carrying about 50 people and could only accommodate about thirty, departed on September 7 from Tower Beach in northern Lebanon, stopping with its passengers heading to Cyprus, after hours of navigation, after the smuggler convinced them that he would join them, taking all the items with him. That took them away, from eating and drinking and even from mobile phones. Zainab Al-Qaq (34 years old), who was in the boat of death, with her husband and four children, recounts that the boat stopped and ran out of fuel, and their connection to the world was cut off for eight days while they were at sea, perishing one after another, before being rescued. Zainab cries with the burning of her little son, one year and several months old, who was forced to throw him into the sea. Zainab recounts, while exhausted, that everyone is recovering from the loss of food and water, and that her son passed away after three days and was followed by her cousin’s son. She told Asharq Al-Awsat: “Those who were with us on the boat convinced me to tie the bodies of the two children with rope, and they will stay with us until we reach safety. I had no choice. I saw it swell up and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. She was afraid that her body would be cut by the action of the salt water. “We understood that we were all going to die,” she adds. I agreed to untie the rope because I too am dead, I will join my son. explosion of the port of Beirut.
A fisherman from the city of El-Mina in Tripoli, who is following what is happening, tells Asharq Al-Awsat that the 2015 wave of illegal immigration was taking place from Turkey, and that Lebanese and Syrians were heading there to cross to Europe. However, for almost a month, the situation has worsened not only from the city of El-Mina, but from various points on the north and south coast of Tripoli. Some estimate that at least two ships a day depart from these points, and that so far thousands have managed to reach Cyprus, Italy and others.
“Mohamed. PBUH, who refused to reveal his name because he insists on repeating the attempt, like all of us who spoke and survived, tells Asharq Al-Awsat that, for about a week, he waited with his companions for the smuggling ship with his wife and two young children off Tripoli. And there were 30 people on the ship, after he even sold his furniture and paid five and a half million pounds (about $ 600) to smuggle it. “The goal was to reach the Greek shores “But the boat’s engine stopped and we were still in Lebanese territorial waters. Fortunately, we used our phones. We asked a boat owner we know for help and came to our rescue, and we returned five days ago.” we live is unimaginable, or even described. ”It is not the first time for this young man, as he had previously tried to cross from Turkey with his son to Greece, but the ship also stopped and returned to his stairs. You will never try because you have nothing to lose.
Imad Tartousi, a chef and cook who previously worked in one of the largest hotels in the capital, was also among the adventurers, and on September 4 he left with a group that agreed to sell everything they had and leave with their families, and his wife and three children were with him. Tartousi (40 years old) told us since his quarantine in Chouf that the state imposed on everyone who returned on this ship: “This is my third attempt, and I will keep trying until I get it.” He explains to Asharq Al-Awsat: “We have knowledge of the sea and we had all the necessary communication equipment, maps and knowledge of the climate. What happened is that the Cypriot authorities have betrayed us and they have no right to do so. A storm hit us and we were near Limassol, they left us in danger and refused to take us. We asked for help from friends from France and Germany, but the one who finally came to help us was the Cyprus Red Cross. Instead of taking us to Cyprus, they took us back to Lebanon, and here was the tragedy. The Cypriot authorities confiscated our boat and we lost everything.
Although one boater believes that the northbound migration season may come to a halt with the onset of the winter season and the difficulty of navigating, Tartousi says: “This is impossible. We have nothing here. My children, after years, will need work and they will not find it, so what are we waiting for here ”. Zainab, crying for her lost son, asks from now on a way to leave: “It is not reasonable for me to lose my son and find myself in Lebanon. This is unimaginable.
[ad_2]
