They denounce the loss of a ship with dozens of Lebanese and Syrians off the European coast

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  • In the last contact of the disappeared with activists and relatives, they reported that three children had died of dehydration after days without food or water.

At this moment, in the Mediterraneanand boat with 60 migrants sail adrift. About 10 days ago, dozens of Lebanese and Syrian refugees embarked at the port of Tripoli, north of Lebanon, with the desire to reach European lands. Now near the shores of Malta, they have lost track. Since Monday night, relatives and Lebanese activists who were in communication with them have lost contact. The last information that reached them is that water was entering the boat. Three childrenThey claimed they had died of dehydration.

“Every time I call, you can hear the children screaming and crying in the background“, one of the relatives told the Associated Press (AP). “I don’t know why no government has taken steps to rescue them; Is it because they are poor people trying to make ends meet to feed their families?” he asked himself. The satellite phone signal that connected them to land has failed. From Lebanon and from the European coasts, various organizations have more than 24 hours alerting the European authorities. The Maltese “refuse to inform us if they have carried out any rescue work”, reported Alarm Phonean activist network that helps bring rescuers to migrants in distress at sea.

Malta has also not given permission to a commercial cargo ship to rescue migrants, this organization has recognized. For his part, the Lebanese deputy Ashraf Rifi has urged the Italian Government, as well as the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Lebanese Embassy in Rome to take action, but still no news. “They are trying to remove the water that seeps into the boat with buckets, that’s all they have,” the brother of one of the Syrian passengers told the AP on Monday. “This is a fishing boat for five peoplenot for 60″, he warned before the communication was cut off.

migratory tragedies

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the ship departed 10 days ago from northern Tripoli, the most impoverished city of the entire Mediterranean coast. The passengers, bound for Italy, are Syrian and Lebanese refugees from this extremely poor region of the country. Gone are the days when Lebanon hosted thousands of refugees from neighboring Syria. Now, the country of the cedars is engulfed in a economic crisis which has condemned three quarters of the population below the poverty line. Lebanon has a population of six million inhabitants, one of which is made up of Syrian refugees.

Last April, the country witnessed the worst migration tragedy in recent years. A boat with dozens of Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians seeking to reach Italy sank just five kilometers from the port of Tripoli after a confrontation with the Lebanese army. Dozens of people died and there are still many bodies to recover under the sea. The incident has not dissuaded those who trust that, on the other shore, they will find a better life, and every week a handful of boats set sail moved by that desire.

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