Lebanon: Nine Palestinians from Syria drown en route to Turkey
IOM estimates almost 2,350 migrants have died this year on sea journeys to Europe
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency says a boat carrying about 40 Palestinians from a refugee camp in Syria capsized en route to Turkey and that at least nine migrants drowned.
Wednesday's report says the vessel left the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli on Monday and capsized after entering Turkish territorial waters. It says those on board were Palestinians from the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus.
NNA says women and children were among the dead. It says survivors were taken to hospitals in Turkey.
The U.N. says about 264,500 people have crossed the Mediterranean Sea so far this year, trying to reach Europe. That compares to 219,000 for all of 2014, according to the International Organization for Migration.
IOM estimates almost 2,350 people have died this year on those sea journeys.
-
Typhoid outbreak hits Palestinian refugees in Syria
The U.N. said there are at least six confirmed cases of Typhoid in the besieged Yarmouk refugee camp on the outskirts of Damascus Middle East -
Saving the Syrian-Palestinians in Yarmouk
Since the 1948 Palestinian exodus, Syria has been a safe and welcoming home for around 427,000 Palestinian refugees Middle East -
Migrants drowned in EU laziness and incompetence
Sadly, the public discourse regarding immigration in Europe became tainted with prejudice, sterotypes and racism Middle East -
Five migrants trying to reach Greece drown off Turkish coast
Five people have drowned off the Turkish coast as they tried to reach the Greek islands Middle East -
‘Don't come to Sweden!’ Syrian refugee warns migrants
Mahmoud Bitar is using social media to break myths Syrians he believes have about life in Sweden for migrants Variety -
At least 40 migrants die in Mediterranean
Mwanwhile, migrants on a Turkish beach scuffled over places on one dinghy in desperation to reach Kos Middle East -
Mediterranean migrant crossings in 2015 near 250k
Over the whole of last year, 219,000 made the risky crossing to Europe Middle East