Posted in: 24/09/2022 – 13:45
The death toll of people who died when their boat sank off the Syrian coast has risen to 86, according to a new toll announced by the Syrian official media on Saturday. After the last death toll announced by the Syrian Ministry of Health on Friday, it reached 77. Only 20 survivors were rescued and transferred to a hospital in Tartous.
The number of drowning victims is still Migration boat near the Syrian coast It continues to rise, reaching 86 victims, the majority of whom were found near Arwad Island and the shores of Tartus. This is the highest outcome since the beginning of the phenomenon of illegal immigration from Lebanon.
For his part, Director General of Sea Ports, Samer Kobarli, confirmed to the official Syrian News Agency (SANA) that the death toll from the boat has risen to 86. Only 20 survivors were transferred to a hospital in Tartous.
The latest death toll announced by the Syrian Ministry of Health on Friday was 77. Searches for the missing are still continuing.
On Thursday, the Syrian authorities found dozens of bodies near the coast of Tartus, of passengers who had sailed a few days ago from northern Lebanon.
Estimates of their number ranged between 100 and 150 Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians, and until now the circumstances of his drowning have not been clear.
On Friday, families in Lebanon attended the funerals of their victims, and Lebanese and Palestinian families received the bodies of their relatives on the same day through the Arida border crossing, to be buried on Saturday.
For its part, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced that ten children were killed in the accident, according to preliminary reports. And she considered in a statement that “as is the case in many countries in the region, people in Lebanon live in harsh conditions that affect everyone, but are more severe, especially for the weakest.”
For his part, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said in a statement, “This is another painful tragedy,” calling on the international community to provide full assistance in order to “improve conditions for forcibly displaced people and host communities in the Middle East.”
“Many are being pushed to the edge of the abyss,” he said in a statement with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees and the International Organization for Migration.
In turn, the Director-General of the International Organization for Migration, Antonio Vitorino, said, “People seeking safety should not find themselves forced to undertake dangerous and deadly migration journeys.”
As UNRWA Commissioner-General Philip Lazzarini said, “No one gets on the boats of death easily. People make these dangerous decisions, putting their lives at risk in search of a life in dignity.” “We must do more (…) to address the sense of despair in Lebanon and the region,” he added.
Illegal immigration is not a new phenomenon in Lebanon, which constitutes a springboard for refugees, especially Syrians and Palestinians, towards the European Union. but given due to the economic collapse that afflicts the country About three years ago, its pace increased, prompting many Lebanese to risk their lives in search of new beginnings.
France 24/AFP
