The poorest citizens of the city where Lebanon’s wealthiest leaders were born grieve their dead once more.
They included Mustafa Misto, a taxi driver from Tripoli, and his three small children, whose bodies were discovered on Thursday off the coast of Syria after they departed from Lebanon aboard a boat carrying more than 100 migrants.
It is the deadliest such voyage from Lebanon to date, where mounting despair is driving ever more people to attempt the perilous journey on rickety and overcrowded boats in search of a better life in Europe. 94 bodies have been recovered, with dozens of them reportedly being children.
In order to feed his family before setting sail on the tragic voyage, Misto sold his car and his mother’s gold, according to relatives and neighbours, but he was still unable to purchase basic necessities like cheese for his children’s sandwiches.
Rawane El Maneh, 24, a cousin, said, ‘Everyone knows they may die but they say, Maybe I may get somewhere, maybe there is hope. They went, but not to pass away, but to start over. They are now living a new life. It better than this one here, I hope.’
Three years after the country’s disastrous financial collapse, the tragedy has brought to light the extreme poverty in northern Lebanon, and in Tripoli in particular, that is pushing more and more individuals to resort to desperate methods.
Additionally, it has highlighted glaring disparities that are particularly severe in the north: Tripoli is home to several extremely wealthy politicians but has seen little in the way of growth or investment.
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