...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers..., days after dozens of Syrians were caught trying to cross to Cyprus.
"A naval force unit stopped a boat detected by radar 10 nautical miles off the city of Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
" in northern Lebanon on Sunday, it said in a statement.
It said the vessel had been trying "to smuggle 60 people, 59 Syrians and one Lebanese."
Their intended destination was not specified but neighboring Cyprus is the most popular sea smuggling route.
On Saturday, Lebanese police said they stopped 51 Syrians who planned to make the crossing to Cyprus and had paid a smuggler $2,500 each.
The army has said it also stopped another 69 Syrians in the last week of April.
Security sources told AFP that the number of smuggling attempts has been on the rise since last month.
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.
Tens of thousands of people, including Syrian and Paleostinian refugees, have lost their jobs or seen their income slashed since 2019.
Their plight has pushed many to attempt sea crossings to EU member Cyprus, which has struck a deal with Lebanon for its navy to intercept such bids.
Nicosia says Cyprus has become the EU's frontline for managing migration and asylum from the eastern Mediterranean.
In March, the Council of Europe's human rights
...which are usually entirely different from personal
liberty...
commissioner, Dunja Mijatovic, called on "Cypriot authorities to ensure that independent and effective investigations are carried out into allegations of pushbacks and ill-treatment (of
She acknowledged sea crossings and arrivals pose considerable challenges for Cyprus, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, but stressed human rights obligations must be "respected."