A Story of Five Lebanese Migrants Gone to Greek Islands in Search for a Better Life
Nearly two months ago, dreadful images of drowned toddler Aylan Kurdi circulated everywhere on social platforms and media outlets. The worldwide buzz happened overnight, touching people all over the globe, and prompting them to express their sympathy on social media; sympathy for the little boy’s heartbreaking story of perishing in search for a better life.
The story eventually fizzled out, just like every other breaking news story, because of the incessant series of calamitous events happening daily around the world. The story of the shocking incident died out up until about a week ago when Lebanon was struck with a similar tragedy. On Thursday October 15th, five members of a Lebanese family were reported to have drowned while another four were reported missing after their wooden boat and a coast guard vessel crashed during a migrant rescue operation off the island of Lesbos, according to a Greek coast guard.
Relatives of the Safwan family, who reside in the southern Beirut suburb of Ouzai, told reporters that 12 family members had traveled to Turkey to take a migrant boat to Greece in hopes of seeking asylum in the European Union. The Safwan family is originally from the Bekaa Valley, which is close to the Lebanese-Syrian border. In this respect, it would be fit to say that the displacement of thousands is one of the grave consequences brought about by the war in Syria, Afghanistan and Turkey.
According to the International Organization for Migration, an estimated number of 590,000 refugees and migrants have reached European shores since January, while more than 3,000 have died or gone missing. Furthermore, almost 400,000 people have arrived in Greece this year, according to UNHCR. This greatly exceeds the nation's capacity for absorption.
This incident has given rise to a lot of controversy, seeing as Lebanon is not a country at war. The reality we face in Lebanon today is certainly not all creams and peaches, for the country is struggling with several issues, namely with having to host more than a million Syrian refugees without even having a functional government. However, the Safwan family, among many other migrants, was criticized for having put their and their children’s lives in danger by venturing on an unsafe trip to Greece for reasons non-vital. Mohammed Safwan, whose parents were among the 12 who set off from Lebanon on Sunday, said that the family had decided to travel to Europe because they had heard the borders were open to refugees.
With this angle in mind, officials have been quick to condemn such individuals, who, relatively speaking, are not considered to be living in menial conditions. One example is Australian Senator Cory Bernardi who believes that Aylan’s family left a danger-free zone for opportunistic economic reasons.
On a more positive note, Athens and the U.N. refugee agency have both called on the European Union to open up more legal channels for refugees desperately fleeing war and persecution, in order not to have to put their lives on the line in the pursuit of safety.
