The increased frequency of illegal migration attempts from the Lebanese coasts towards Europe recently highlighted the transformation of North Lebanon into a smuggling hub for migrants via "death boats." This organized and lucrative cross-border operation is managed by Lebanese alongside Syrians and Palestinians, exploiting open Lebanese waters. The Lebanese authorities, with their limited resources, cannot fully put an end to it, especially given the scale of operations occurring almost daily and the deceptive tactics employed by smugglers.
The tragedy of the boat that sank off the Syrian coast last Thursday, resulting in dozens of deaths—the largest number of casualties of this kind in recent years—has reopened the file on illegal migration departing from Lebanon. This issue has evolved beyond individual attempts to a "transnational organized operation," according to a Lebanese security source speaking to "Asharq Al-Awsat." The repetitive nature of these operations complicates the process of accounting for boats and the number of people on board, leading to confusion regarding the identities of individuals on any specific boat, their operational status (whether it has broken down, sunk, or reached its final destination), as noted by observers following this issue in Northern Lebanon.
#### Launch Platform
The Lebanese northern coasts are described as a "launch platform," a term agreed upon by politicians, security officials, and observers of this file. Boats launch frequently, and authorities sometimes succeed in foiling escape attempts, while smugglers manage to reach Italian, Greek, or Cypriot shores. Local sources in Tripoli told "Asharq Al-Awsat" that these operations are "progressive," noting that "initially, the boats were small fishing vessels carrying twenty or thirty people, but now the situation has changed, and each journey carries more than fifty individuals, necessitating larger boats."
In a sign of the organized nature of these operations, sources confirm that locals "have become familiar with smugglers who specialize in human trafficking, some of whom come from specific families in Akkar towns," including the town of Bnin, where Lebanese army intelligence arrested two individuals suspected of involvement in smuggling. The sources add: "These individuals have become skilled in smuggling and have turned it into a profession."
The sources indicate that the boats "do not launch from Tripoli, but from the Abdelah beach in Akkar (approximately 15 kilometers north of Tripoli)," explaining that smuggling methods vary; smugglers often use fishing boats or tourist boats to transport migrants to tourism islands off Tripoli before departing in the evening to enter territorial waters. This means Lebanese authorities have no jurisdiction to stop them.
#### Security Efforts and Challenges
Lebanese authorities have gathered intelligence on these methods and act based on this information to thwart illegal migration attempts. They have arrested many individuals involved in such operations earlier, only for the judiciary to release them later. Currently, they are stopping additional individuals suspected of involvement as part of the ongoing efforts to combat these operations. The Lebanese army intelligence and other security forces have managed to identify the primary networks and key players, pursuing them, with arrests being handed over to the Lebanese judiciary.
However, these actions face fundamental challenges related to the capabilities of the Lebanese army, which can only disrupt operations based on its limited resources. Security sources tell "Asharq Al-Awsat" that the difficulty in capturing all journeys "is due to the widespread nature of launch operations along the Lebanese coast," where smugglers use small boats that are "difficult to detect by army radars," which meet larger vessels in the territorial waters waiting for them. Groups are gathered in small boats and then transferred to a larger boat, which subsequently heads to international waters to reach Italian, Greek, or Cypriot shores.
#### An Organized Operation
Smugglers exploit the Lebanese coastline as it is an open stretch; small boats do not usually depart from ports. They can launch from any point along the shore, rejoining larger groups in international waters. Smugglers employ various methods to evade Lebanese naval forces' protocols. They sometimes purchase ships for a single journey before abandoning them at sea after dropping off the migrants.
"This is an organized operation," as security sources assert, noting that it generates significant profits for smugglers. They indicate that confessions from detainees revealed that smugglers charge up to $6,000 per person and $3,500 for smuggling children. Some families reportedly sell their possessions to gather around $40,000 to pay to smugglers, with the profits for smugglers in Lebanon amounting to no less than $50,000 for each smuggling run.
#### Syrians and Palestinians Involved
Migration operations are not limited to Lebanese nationals. A source from the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared informed "Asharq Al-Awsat" that hundreds of young Palestinians migrated last year, while others moved from southern camps to the north to embark on journeys. The Lebanese National News Agency reported that residents of the Rashidieh camp near Tyre celebrated the arrival of several Palestinians via the sea, who had sailed from Tripoli to Italy on two boats illegally, after being out of contact for a period.
Residents received calls from migrants on Wednesday evening reassuring them that they had safely reached Italy. Sources noted that starting from the north is "safer than from the south, given the presence of UNIFIL ships in the southern waters and the risk of interception by Israeli patrol boats at sea if they stray off course," in addition to logistical factors related to deception methods if they wish to launch from the north.
Alongside Lebanese and Palestinians, Syrians are also migrating from the shores of northern Lebanon, including displaced persons in Lebanon and others crossing the Syrian border through smuggling routes in the north to reach their boats.
