22 migrants rescued from disabled boat near Tripoli, Lebanon
Military personnel rescued 22 people from a boat that became disabled off the coast of Tripoli in northern Lebanon during an attempt to illegally transport passengers by sea. According to Asharq Al-Awsat, Lebanon's navy, civil defense service and the Red Cross took part in the rescue operation.
Search for passengers continues
The Lebanese military said it is continuing the rescue operation to search for other passengers. At the same time, the army did not specify how many people in total were aboard the boat.
Lebanon's National News Agency previously reported that more than 20 passengers were Syrians, while the rest were Lebanese.
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Sea routes from Lebanon
Migrants and asylum seekers leaving Lebanon by sea often seek to reach Europe, in particular Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean. The island is less than 200 kilometers from the Lebanese coast.
According to estimates by the UN Refugee Agency, around 1.12 million Syrian refugees are in Lebanon. According to UNHCR data, approximately 400,000 Syrians returned from Lebanon to Syria in 2025. The economic crisis that began in late 2019 and worsening living conditions have also prompted some Lebanese citizens to choose irregular migration. In recent years, the Lebanese army has repeatedly reported preventing attempts to illegally transport migrants by sea.
