The port city of Tripoli in Lebanon was one of the entry points on the route of refugees to Europe. Today, with the closure of borders and the new visa requirements, Syrian refugees are finding themselves increasingly stranded where they are, forced to face violence, economic hardship and an uncertain future.
TRIPLES, Lebanon - The only ferry from Tripoli to Lebanon to the city of Mersin in southern Turkey leaves the port with a truckload. There are no passengers this Saturday evening. The pier of Tripoli is almost desert apart from a dozen fishermen scattered around here and there, who are engaged in unravelling the nets while the sun sets on the horizon. Every now and then you can see a family strolling around eating cooked corn or boiled broad beans taken from one of the colourful carts of street vendors.
The port of Tripoli is unusually quiet these days. From mid-summer to early January, the drowsy rhythm of life in this Levantine city was interrupted by the thousands of Syrians flocking to the harbour, which became their only escape point from the civil war in their homeland and from the disastrous living conditions in Lebanon.
Pass through the port every day to go to work,"says Khouloud al-Ali, a resident of Tripoli. If you passed by here in the evening, in the day, in the afternoon... I could not say a number, but there were many families of Syrians who were trying to reach Turkey and Europe ".
In August last year, the number of Syrians passing through Lebanon to Turkey had soaring. There were between 3,000 and 5,000 departing weekly,"says Lisa Abou Khaled, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. In addition to a number of Lebanese who left the country, it was a real exodus among Syrian refugees living in Lebanon (1.5 million in total), driven by the worsening local situation and the lack of realistic hopes of returning home after five years of war.
The final destination for most of these people was Europe, to be reached on dangerous journeys across the Aegean Sea to the Greek islands, where 850,000 asylum seekers landed last year. With 3,771 deaths, 2015 was the most lethal year for migrants and refugees crossing the Mediterranean to Europe, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The port of Tripoli and Beirut airport were the first stages of this risky route.
But on 8 January this year, Turkey, which is home to almost 3 million Syrian refugees, adopted new laws requiring Syrians arriving from a third country to have a visa. Before, they could only enter Turkey from any country with a passport.
Without enough money and with the closure of borders, people such as Nadaf, Awaj and their families are locked in a cruel limbo, with little hope of seeing its end.