The Lebanese army announced that it had arrested on Saturday near the border with Syria 134 people, the vast majority of them Syrians, for attempting to sneak illegally by sea to Europe, indicating that it had also arrested their Lebanese smuggler.
The army said in a statement that one of its units arrested on Saturday “in the town of Sheikh Zinad- Akkar, 130 Syrians and 4 Lebanese, for attempting to sneak across the sea illegally towards a European country.”
He added that his forces also arrested “the mastermind of the operation, the citizen (S.S.),” noting that “the investigation has begun with the detainees under the supervision of the competent judiciary.”
In another statement, the army said that its units had arrested in other parts of Akkar governorate “150 people (…) while trying to enter Lebanese territory illegally” from Syria.
The phenomenon of illegal immigration from northern Lebanon has become active in recent years. The destination of the boats is often Cyprus, a member state of the European Union located off the Lebanese coast, only 175 km away.
Lebanon currently hosts about two million Syrians, more than 800,000 of whom are registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. This figure means that Lebanon is the first country in the world in terms of the number of refugees relative to its population.
It is noteworthy that in late September 2022, a boat that sailed from Lebanon with dozens of illegal immigrants sank off the coast of Syria, killing at least 100 people, in one of the deadliest drowning incidents in the eastern Mediterranean.
In December 2022, two immigrants died and about 200 others were rescued when their boat sank off the northern Lebanese coast.
In a related matter, the Spanish police revealed yesterday the dismantling of a criminal organization that smuggled Syrian immigrants from Lebanon to Spain, Germany and Norway across three continents.
The police confirmed in a statement that they had dismantled “in Spain the logistical structure of a criminal organization specialized in smuggling Syrian migrants,” in cooperation with Europol and the German Federal Police.
19 people were arrested on suspicion of “belonging to a criminal organization and involvement in illegal immigration”, and six of them were placed in pre-trial detention.
The Spanish police explained that “the migration route passed through three continents, Asia, Africa and Europe, by air, sea and land,” and each immigrant paid the smugglers 20,000 euros.
The network cooperated with criminal organizations in other countries, and was receiving money through remittances that enabled it to earn about 2.5 million euros.
According to the first elements of the investigation, the migrants departed from Lebanon, passing through Beirut airport to Egypt for 4,000 euros, and from there, the Syrians passed by land to Libya, Tunisia and Algeria for 3,500 euros. Then, from the Algerian cities of Oran and Mostaganem, they are transported in boats to the Spanish coast for 10,000 euros.
Once in Spain, the migrants cross by car to Madrid, Cuenca and Toledo (centre), where they remain hidden in squalid conditions for €250 a week until they receive papers.
Once the documents are obtained, they can either stay in Spain or go to Germany or Norway (for €1,000 and €2,000).
2023-08-13 21:00:00
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