Although some of these irregular trips managed to reach the European shores between Italy and Greece, most of these trips are doomed to failure, so the boat that took them returns to the beaches from which it took off on the Lebanese coast.
This is precisely what happened to a boat that had a technical failure earlier in the Cypriot territorial waters a few hours after its departure from the Lebanese territorial waters, with 52 passengers on board, most of them women and children.
That boat carried many stories, one of which is for a young Lebanese man, born in 1991, who works as an electrician from the city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon.
The Lebanese young man, who preferred not to be named, recounted, in an interview with “Sky News Arabia”, what he suffered with his companions and his family, and how he learned about facing strong waves and winds, and the troubles he faced on Cypriot lands, and despite that, he confirmed that he did not despair and will repeat the migration journey to Europe again.
He said, “We set off earlier from one of the northern beaches of Lebanon and sailed towards Italy, and upon our arrival in the Cypriot territorial waters, the boat malfunctioned in its wooden hull, forcing us to seek help and permission to enter the Cypriot shores to repair the boat and then complete the trip.”
And he continued, “Indeed, they transferred us from the sea and said that we would go to the port of Limassol in Cyprus to submit immigration papers in it instead of traveling to Italy, and when they saw my wife, who is pregnant in her ninth month, they admitted her to the hospital and provided her with assistance, and then they boarded us in a large boat and brought us back to Lebanon despite our objection and rejection, and after A torrent of insults and insults, in some cases amounting to beatings, where we were physically abused.”
The Lebanese young man explained that he is in the process of filing a lawsuit against everyone who was harmed upon his return with his companions and family to Lebanon, with reports from the forensic doctor in Lebanon confirming the physical and psychological harm that his daughter and his family were subjected to.
And he added, “He wanted to reach Italy and also cross from it by train illegally to Germany, after his comrades who preceded him told him that they had arrived and that the families were treated well.”
Back to Zero
He added, “The boat malfunction brought me back to the city of Tripoli, and I cannot take care of the family and provide bread and milk for my baby, whom I named Jad and wrote for him to be born in Lebanon.”
He explained that he was arrested after returning for a week and interrogating him with the Lebanese authorities, so he was arrested “while swimming in the sea, after he was accused of attempting illegal immigration again.”
the ordeal of living
He said, “We can no longer live in this country. I borrowed from some relatives and friends the cost of my wife’s birth after the hospital asked me to secure 7 million pounds, and I do not know where to get the money to return it to its owners.”
Despite the difficulties that the young man faced in his escape journey, which failed and brought him back to Lebanon with his family and his pregnant wife, he insists on his intention to try to emigrate from Lebanon a second time and says, “I demand the Cypriot authorities to expel me again from Lebanon, as they brought me back after leaving, because I do not have the money to try once.” other”.
He bears the responsibility of escaping due to the difficulty of securing funds for the issuance of passports, if they exist at all.
And the forcibly returned to Lebanon concludes by addressing the politicians in Lebanon and saying, “Fear God in your people, we are trying to escape from Lebanon, because our children are starving and we do not have the money to support them, and you are the ones who push us to leave this country that we love.”
Until the situation in Lebanon improves, the young man spends his entire day searching for a livelihood for himself and his four children, including the infant, while he waits for hope for salvation, even if he is across the sea and the waves and dangers that crash in it.
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