The Lebanese army announced on Monday that it had prevented a new clandestine crossing in the Mediterranean by intercepting a boat carrying 60 migrants, just days after a similar attempt.
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Departures of this kind have multiplied in recent months, often to the neighboring island of Cyprus, many migrants not hesitating to undertake the costly and perilous sea crossing to flee a Lebanon in the midst of economic collapse.
On May 9, a Lebanese navy unit intercepted "
a boat spotted by radar 10 nautical miles
", or 18.5 km off the coast of Tripoli, a large city in northern Lebanon, the army said in a statement.
Sixty people were on board, "
59 of Syrian nationality and one Lebanese
", adds the text without specifying their destination.
On May 4, Lebanese police had arrested 51 Syrians who were waiting for a boat on the north coast of Lebanon to go to Cyprus, according to a statement.
Lebanon is some 160 kilometers from the coast of Cyprus and hosts more than a million Syrian refugees who have fled the war in their country.
In 2020, several illegal boats managed to arrive on the island.