Over 30 people killed when boat carrying migrants sinks off the coast of Syria

• Authorities in Syria have found 34 bodies and rescued more than a dozen migrants off the coast of Tartus.
• Boat suspected to have left north Lebanon bound for Europe earlier this week.
• Lebanese transport minister says 33 bodies recovered, 16 rescued; 14 people rescued by Thursday evening.

Authorities in Syria discovered 34 bodies and rescued more than a dozen migrants off the coast of Tartus, Syria’s northern port city, on Thursday, suspected of leaving north Lebanon bound for Europe earlier this week.

Syrian port director-general Samer Qubrusli told Reuters that authorities had discovered 34 bodies and rescued 14 people in Syrian waters by Thursday evening.

According to survivors, the boat left Lebanon’s northern Minyeh region on Tuesday with between 120 and 150 people on board, according to the Syrian transport ministry.

Syrian Transport Minister Zuhair Khuzaim informed Lebanese Transport Minister Ali Hamiye that 33 bodies had been recovered and 16 people had been rescued.

Lebanon has experienced a surge in migration as a result of one of the world’s worst economic crises since the 1850s.

Aside from Lebanese, many of those leaving on migrant boats are already refugees from Syria and Palestine.

Earlier on Thursday, dozens of people protested in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli to alert authorities that they had lost contact with a migrant boat carrying dozens of people bound for Italy.

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Reuters was unable to confirm whether it was the same boat mentioned by Syrian authorities.

According to the Syrian transport ministry, at 4:30 p.m., the director of the small island port of Arwad off the coast of Tartus informed them that a drowned person had been spotted near an anchored ship.

The ministry dispatched a boat to retrieve the body. According to the ministry, the majority of victims and survivors were discovered near Arwad. Due to weather conditions, including high waves, rescue operations had been halted overnight.

The Lebanese army said on Wednesday that it rescued 55 people from a malfunctioning boat in the country’s territorial waters and towed it back to shore.

A migrant boat leaving from near Tripoli sank in April after being intercepted by the Lebanese navy off the country’s coast.

Around 80 Lebanese, Syrian, and Palestinian migrants were on board, with 40 rescued, seven confirmed dead, and around 30 officially missing.

According to Reuters earlier this month, the number of people who left or attempted to leave Lebanon by sea nearly doubled in 2021 compared to 2020.

When compared to the same period last year, it increased by more than 70% in 2022.

The main reasons given were a “inability to survive in Lebanon due to the deteriorating economic situation” and a “lack of access to basic services and limited job opportunities,” according to the report.

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