The Lebanese army announces the rescue of a boat carrying migrants that broke down in the territorial waters
Yesterday, Saturday, the Lebanese navy announced in a statement that they had rescued a boat carrying migrants that had left the country, heading west across the Mediterranean Sea, but broke down off the coast.
A statement issued by the prime Minister Najib Mikati’s office said the migrants had left Lebanon illegally, and that the navy was towing the boat shoreward. It did not say how many migrants were aboard but said some were children.
The statement explained that this came “during an illegal departure across the Lebanese shores,” without mentioning the destination of the migrants, declaring that “the army’s navy succeeded in handling the matter, in preparation for returning the boat to the Lebanese shore and conducting the necessary investigations.”
A statement from the office of the Minister of Interior, Bassam Mawlawi, stated that the boat was stuck in the middle of the sea, as it was carrying Lebanese immigrants, without details.
Recently, irregular migration attempts from Lebanon to European countries have increased, in light of the deteriorating economic and social conditions and the high rates of poverty in the country.
