The Lebanese Navy rescued a boat that was stuck at sea near the northern coast while trying to smuggle Lebanese and Syrian families out of the country.
The boat was reportedly heading from the Qalamoun sea towards Italy where these families reportedly intended to immigrate illegally. Investigations are being done to find those responsible.
Attempts of emigration by unlawful means, including the smuggling of people out of the country, continue due to the grave crises in Lebanon.
Inflated prices, devaluation of the local currency, an unstable exchange rate, shortage of necessities, and political instability are making life even harder for the less fortunate.
To add to the ongoing hardships, the government lifted the subsidies on medicines, causing their prices to skyrocket. People can no longer afford medicines, even life-critical medications for chronic illnesses like diabetes.
That has prompted the UN Rapporteur on poverty and human rights to publicly criticize the Health Ministry for lifting the subsidies without a contingency plan.
Criticism of mismanagement and warnings for urgent reforms have been many since 2019 from the UN, as well as the EU and the international community.
However, the lack of effective actions or none whatsoever by the successive governments has continued to propel the country into the abyss, leaving no choice to many but to flee, even if illegally.
51 people were caught while being smuggled to Cyrpus back in May. In a more recent case, a large group of 39 Lebanese requested asylum in Spain during a layover in El-Prat airport in Barcelona.
