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2 Months after Tragedy, Families of Tripoli Boat Sinking Victims Still Waiting to Recover Their Bodies

Angry mourners at the funeral of the victims of the boat sinking in Tripoli on April 25. (EPA)
Angry mourners at the funeral of the victims of the boat sinking in Tripoli on April 25. (EPA)
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2 Months after Tragedy, Families of Tripoli Boat Sinking Victims Still Waiting to Recover Their Bodies

Angry mourners at the funeral of the victims of the boat sinking in Tripoli on April 25. (EPA)
Angry mourners at the funeral of the victims of the boat sinking in Tripoli on April 25. (EPA)

Two months have passed since the sinking of a migrant boat off the shores of the Lebanese northern city of Tripoli that was carrying more than 70 people. However, the bodies of dozens of persons are still at the bottom of the sea, as Lebanese authorities have been unable to recover them.

Reports of a submarine brought in by a Lebanese association in Australia to retrieve the bodies were followed by the families with little hope and a lot of skepticism.

Ameed Dandashi lost his three children in the tragedy, when he was attempting to emigrate with his family from Lebanon towards Europe on April 23. His surviving wife is unable to speak from the shock. She hasn't spoken a word since.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat: “I can no longer look at the sea, nor approach it. We are not talking about what happened because it is beyond our capacity to bear. Our life is a real hell. We do not sleep, eat or drink, and we are suffer from psychological trauma. They burned our hearts and deprived us of hearing the word dad and mom. They are monsters.”

Ameed and his wife miraculously escaped drowning, but the couple lost all their children: Assad (40 days), Jawad (8 years), and Fidaa (5 years). These children are still missing, along with dozens of other people.

The army managed to rescue 45 people after the accident, and retrieved six bodies. Estimates suggest that 23 people are still unaccounted for.

Dandashi, who is in charge of communications with the concerned authorities on behalf of the families of the victims, said that the submarine that is expected to retrieve the boat and the bodies was donated by Lebanese immigrants in Australia. It was sent by a Lebanese association there, and is owned by an Indian company based in Spain.

He added that the submarine would not reach the shores of Beirut before July 13.

The arrival of the vessel has been repeatedly delayed. The brother of the missing, Mohammad al-Hamwi, says: “We have been waiting for two months.”

“All we want is for them to bring us the bodies of our dead so we can bury them in peace,” said Mazen Monzer Talib, 24, who is waiting to recover the bodies of his mother, 48, father 48, older brother, 26, and younger brother, 10.

Mazen put his only surviving brother, 12, in the custody of his married sister, who was supposed to join them.

“Only my father knew the details of the trip. He told us to pack just two hours before departure. My mother was the most enthusiastic, and she did not object. We wanted to get to Greece and then Italy, and then we would manage,” Mazen said.

He lives alone today in his home, after the death of his parents and brothers.

“Yes, I work, but I suffer from asthma and cannot buy my medicine. My father was sick… He was hospitalized several times, and we could not find medicine for him. Our goal was to reach a safe country.”

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Borderless Europe Fights Brain Drain as Talent Heads North

Eszter Czovek, 45, packs up her house as she moves to Austria, in Budapest, Hungary, October 28, 2024. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo
Eszter Czovek, 45, packs up her house as she moves to Austria, in Budapest, Hungary, October 28, 2024. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo
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Borderless Europe Fights Brain Drain as Talent Heads North

Eszter Czovek, 45, packs up her house as she moves to Austria, in Budapest, Hungary, October 28, 2024. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo
Eszter Czovek, 45, packs up her house as she moves to Austria, in Budapest, Hungary, October 28, 2024. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo

Until recently aerospace engineer Pedro Monteiro figured he'd join many of his peers moving from Portugal to its richer European neighbors in the quest for a better-paid job once he completes his master's degree in Lisbon.
But tax breaks proposed by Portugal's government for young workers - up to a temporary 100% income tax exemption in some cases - plus help with housing are making him think twice.
"Previous governments left young people behind," said Monteiro, 23, who is studying engineering and industrial management at the Higher Technical Institute in the Portuguese capital. "The country needs us and we want to stay but we need to see signs from the government that they are implementing policies that will help."
Monteiro cites in particular the cost of buying or renting a home amid a housing crisis aggravated by the arrival of wealthy foreigners lured by easy residency rights and tax breaks, Reuters said.
He is doubtful the government's new measures will be enough.
"Some of my friends are now working abroad and earn substantially more money... and have better career development opportunities," he said. "I'm a little bit skeptical concerning my job opportunities here in Portugal."
Portugal is the latest country in Europe to seek to tackle a brain drain holding back its economy. Tax breaks for young workers in the budget currently going through parliament will take effect next year and could benefit as many as 400,000 young people at an annual cost of 525 million euros.
Talent flight to wealthier countries of the north is a problem Portugal shares with several others in southern and central Europe, as workers take advantage of freedom of movement rules within the trade bloc. Countries including Italy have tried other schemes to counter the flight, with mixed results.
By exacerbating regional labor shortages and depriving poorer countries of tax revenues, it is yet another hurdle for the EU as it tries to improve its ebbing economic growth while addressing population decline and lagging labor productivity.
Donald Trump's victory in US elections this month raises the stakes, with the risk of across-the-board trade tariffs on European exports of at least 10% - a move that economists say could turn Europe's anaemic growth into outright recession.
About 2.3 million people born in Portugal, or 23% of its population, currently live abroad, according to Portugal's Emigration Observatory. That includes 850,000 Portuguese nationals aged 15-39, or about 30% of young Portuguese and 12.6% of its working-age population.
More concerning still is that about 40% of 50,000 people who graduate from universities or technical colleges emigrate each year, according to a study by Business Roundtable Portugal and Deloitte based on official statistics, costing Portugal billions of euros in lost income tax revenue and social security contributions.
DEMOGRAPHIC HELL
"This is not a country for young people," said Pedro Ginjeira do Nascimento, executive director of Business Roundtable Portugal, which represents 43 of the largest companies in the nation of 10 million people. "Portugal is experiencing a true demographic hell because the country is unable to create conditions to retain and attract young talent."
Internal migration within the EU is partly driven by the disparity in wages between its member states. Some economic migrants also say they are looking for better benefits such as pensions and healthcare and less rigid, hierarchichal structures that give more responsibility to those in junior roles.
Concerns are mounting over the long-term viability of Europe's economic model with its rapidly ageing population and failure to win substantial shares of high-growth markets of the future, from tech to renewable energy.
Presenting a raft of reform proposals aimed at boosting local innovation and investment, former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi said in September the region faced a "slow agony" of decline if it did not compete more effectively.
Eszter Czovek, 45, and her husband are moving from Hungary to Austria, where workers earn an average 40.9 euros ($29.95) per hour compared to 12.8 euros per hour in Hungary, the largest wage gap between neighboring countries in the EU.
The number of Hungarians living in Austria increased to 107,264 by the beginning of 2024 from just 14,151 when Hungary joined the EU.
Czovek's husband, who works in construction, was offered a job in Austria, while she has worked in media and accounting at various multinationals. She cited better pay, pensions, work conditions and healthcare as motives for moving. She also mentioned her concern over the political situation in Hungary, which she fears might join Britain in leaving the EU.
"There was a change of regime here in 1989 and 30 years later we are still waiting for the miracle that will see us catch up with Austria," Czovek said of the revolution over three decades ago that ended communist rule in Hungary.
Since Brexit, the Netherlands has replaced Britain as a preferred destination for Portuguese talent while Germany and Scandinavian countries are also popular.
Many Europeans still head to the United States in search of better jobs - about 4.7 million were living there in 2022, according to the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute, which nonetheless notes a long-term decline since the 1960s.
In 2023, 4,892 Portuguese emigrated to the Netherlands, surpassing Britain for the first time, which in 2019 received 24,500 Portuguese.
At home, they face the eighth-highest tax burden in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) even as house prices rose 186% and rents by 94% since 2015, according to property specialists Confidencial Imobiliario.
A single person in Portugal without children earned an average of 16,943 euros after tax in 2023 compared to 45,429 euros in the Netherlands, according to Eurostat.
Portugal will offer under 35s earning up to 28,000 euros a year a 100% tax exemption during their first year of work, gradually reducing the benefit to a 25% deduction between the eighth and tenth years.
Young people would also be exempted from transaction taxes and stamp duty when buying their first home as well as access to loans guaranteed by the state and rent subsidies.
"We are designing a solid package that tries to solve the main reasons why the young leave," Cabinet Minister Antonio Leitao Amaro said in an interview with Reuters.
'THINGS WON'T CHANGE'
Leitao Amaro said he did not know for sure if the tax breaks would work but that his government, which came into office in April, had to try something new.
"If we don't act ambitiously, things won't change and Portugal will continue down this path," he said.
The Italian government has already found that tax breaks used as incentives are costly and open to fraud.
In January, Italy abruptly curtailed its own scheme that was costing 1.3 billion euros in lost tax revenue, even as it lured tech workers such as Alessandra Mariani back home.
Before 2024, returners were offered a 70% tax break for five years, extendable for another five years in certain circumstances. Now, it plans to offer a slimmed-down scheme targeting specific skills after it attracted only 1,200 teachers or researchers - areas where Italy has a particular shortage.
Mariani said the incentives were key to persuading her to return to Milan in 2021 by allowing her to maintain the same standard of living she enjoyed in London.
"Had the opportunity been the same without the scheme, I would not have done it at all," said Mariani, now working at the Italian arm of the same large tech company.
With her tax breaks poised to be phased out by 2026 unless she buys a house or has a child, Mariani faces a drop in salary and she said she's once again eyeing the exit door.