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Lebanese Army Foils Attempt to Smuggle 60 Syrians By Sea

A vessel patrols in the Mediterranean waters. PHOTO: JACK GUEZ / AFP
A vessel patrols in the Mediterranean waters. PHOTO: JACK GUEZ / AFP
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Lebanese Army Foils Attempt to Smuggle 60 Syrians By Sea

A vessel patrols in the Mediterranean waters. PHOTO: JACK GUEZ / AFP
A vessel patrols in the Mediterranean waters. PHOTO: JACK GUEZ / AFP

The Lebanese Army said Monday it has foiled an attempt to smuggle 60 Syrians by sea from the north of the country.

"A naval force unit stopped a boat detected by radar 10 nautical miles off the city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon on Sunday trying "to smuggle 60 people, 59 Syrians and one Lebanese,” the Army said in a statement.

Their intended destination was not specified but neighboring Cyprus is the most popular sea smuggling route.

The operation came few days after the Internal Security Forces arrested 51 Syrian citizens (39 adult males, 5 adult women, 7 Children) who planned to make the crossing to Cyprus from the coastal town of Anfeh al-Harisha.

Smuggling attempts have been on the rise in Lebanon, especially among Syrian refugees who do not hesitate to take the risky trip and often choose Cyprus as their destination.

Last Saturday, the ISF said it detained Syrians who confessed that they were waiting for a boat to take them from the Anfeh area towards Cyprus, noting that they had paid a smuggler $2,500 each.

The army has said it also stopped another 69 Syrians in the last week of April.

Lebanon, home to more than six million people, is just 160 kilometers from Cyprus.

As well as hosting more than one million refugees from war-torn Syria, Lebanon is grappling with its most severe economic crisis for decades.

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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he would travel to Syria on Friday to encourage the country's transition following the ouster of President Bashar Assad by insurgents, and appealed on Europe to review its sanctions on Damascus now that the political situation has changed.
Tajani presided over a meeting in Rome on Thursday of foreign ministry officials from five countries, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the United States.
The aim, he said, is to coordinate the various post-Assad initiatives, with Italy prepared to make proposals on private investments in health care for the Syrian population.
Going into the meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their European counterparts, Tajani said it was critical that all Syrians be recognized with equal rights. It was a reference to concerns about the rights of Christians and other minorities under Syria’s new de facto authorities of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HT.
“The first messages from Damascus have been positive. That’s why I’m going there tomorrow, to encourage this new phase that will help stabilize the international situation,” Tajani said.
Speaking to reporters, he said the European Union should discuss possible changes to its sanctions on Syria. “It’s an issue that should be discussed because Assad isn’t there anymore, it’s a new situation, and I think that the encouraging signals that are arriving should be further encouraged,” he said.
Syria has been under deeply isolating sanctions by the US, the European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and spiraled into civil war.
HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.
The US has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of a Syrian opposition leader whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.
Syria’s new leaders also have been urged to respect the rights of minorities and women. Many Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population before Syria’s civil war, either fled the country or supported Assad out of fear of insurgents.