BEIRUT: Lebanon’s General Directorate of Internal Security Forces has claimed to arrest two Syrian nationals for their alleged involvement in human trafficking, Arab media reported on Monday.
The suspects had been accused of trafficking people from different countries from Libya to Europe via boats.
They were operating with the support of some Lebanese nationals in the Wadi Khaled region of northern Lebanon, that borders Syria.
The development comes weeks after a boat carrying migrants drowned near the coast of Tobruk, Libya, killing dozens of migrants.
The directorate said that the two detainees had come from Libya to Syria after one of them was attacked by some of the victims’ families.
It said that two men later illegally entered Lebanon and took up residence in the town of Lala in the Bekaa.
According to the directorate, the detainees have confessed that had received $3,500 each for smuggling people to Europe.
They also admitted that have smuggled hundreds of people from Libya to Italy and Greece through boats.
They were arrested during an operation that was carried out in collaboration with the brother of one of the detainees living in Libya and another person residing in Greece.
Lebanon witnesses surge in migrants
In recent years, Lebanon has seen a surge in migrants, including Lebanese, Syrians, and Palestinians, embarking on journeys across the Mediterranean Sea in search of a better life in Europe.
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Lebanon has long been a host to refugees, with over 805,000 UN-registered Syrian refugees. However, government estimates suggest that the actual number of Syrians in Lebanon could range from 1.5 million to 2 million. Lebanon is also home to tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees and their descendants, many of whom reside in 12 refugee camps spread across the country.
