Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Wednesday, Oct 01, 2025

Poverty in Lebanon's 'city of billionaires' drives deadly migration

Poverty in Lebanon's 'city of billionaires' drives deadly migration

In the city from which Lebanon's richest politicians hail, the poorest residents once again mourn their dead.

Among them, Mustafa Misto, a taxi driver in the city of Tripoli, and his three young children, whose bodies were found off Syria's coast on Thursday after they left Lebanon on a migrant boat carrying more than 100 people.

Lebanese transport minister Ali Hamie told Reuters 95 people died in the accident, including 24 children and 31 women.

It marks the deadliest such voyage yet from Lebanon, where mounting despair is forcing ever more people to attempt the perilous journey on rickety and overcrowded boats to seek a better life in Europe.

Before embarking on the ill-fated voyage, Misto had fallen heavily into debt, selling his car and his mother's gold to feed his family yet still unable to afford simple things, like cheese for his childrens' sandwiches, relatives and neighbours said.

"Everyone knows they may die but they say, 'Maybe I may get somewhere, maybe there is hope,'" said Rawane El Maneh, 24, a cousin. "They went... not to die, but to renew their lives. Now they are in a new life. I hope it's much better than this one here."

The tragedy has underscored soaring poverty in northern Lebanon, and Tripoli in particular, that is driving ever more people to take desperate measures three years into the country's devastating financial collapse.

It has also brought into focus stark inequalities that are particularly acute in the north: Tripoli is home to a number of ultra-rich politicians but has enjoyed little in the way of development or investment.

While many of Lebanon’s sectarian leaders have spent money in their communities to shore up political support, residents in Tripoli say their area has been neglected despite the wealth of its politicians.

As mourners gathered to pay their respects in Tripoli's impoverished Bab al-Ramel neighbourhood, many voiced anger at the city's politicians including Najib Mikati, Lebanon's billionaire tycoon prime minister.

"We're in a country where politicians just suck up money, talk, and have no regard for what people need," El Maneh said.

Tripoli, Lebanon's second city with a population of roughly half a million, was already Lebanon's poorest before the country plummeted into financial crisis, the result of decades of corruption and bad governance overseen by ruling elites.

Mohanad Hage Ali of the Carnegie Middle East Center said Tripoli had seen no major development efforts since the 1975-90 civil war despite the political rise of rich businessmen from the city. This "resembled the growing inequality and income disparity in the country", he said.

BILLIONAIRES AND POVERTY


Mikati made much of his fortune in telecoms and is ranked the Arab world's fourth richest man in 2022 by Forbes.

Mikati's office said in a statement to Reuters on Thursday that he had been the "biggest supporter of socio-economic development in Tripoli" for more than 40 years, through his charitable foundations.

He also understood "the agony the people of Lebanon in general and Tripoli in particular are going through," due to the crisis, it added.

Mikati's seaside mansion on the city's edge, known locally as "Mikati's Palace", has been a rallying point during protests in recent years over government corruption and economic desperation.

A Lebanese prosecutor in October 2019 charged Mikati with illicit enrichment for using funds designated for a subsidized housing loan scheme for poor families - accusations he has denied.

His office said the charges were "politically motivated to smear" his reputation, and noted another judge dropped the case earlier this year.

TROUBLED REGION


Reflecting a disconnect between people in Tripoli and the politicians and a belief nothing will change, just three in 10 people in the city voted in May parliamentary elections.

The north has been one of Lebanon's most troubled regions since the end of the civil war. The city and its surrounding areas have been a fertile recruiting ground for young Sunni Muslim jihadists.

Most recently, Tripoli has been a focal point of a worsening security situation linked to the financial collapse.

Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi has announced a new security plan that followed a spike in crimes and violence.

Several dozen of the people on the migrant boat came from the sprawling Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared, according to camp residents. There were also many Syrians, around 1 million of whom live in Lebanon as refugees.

The economic crisis has led poverty to sky-rocket, with 80% of the population of some 6.5 million poor, according to the United Nations. The government has done little to address the crisis, which the World Bank has called a deliberate depression "orchestrated" by the elite through its exploitative grip on resources.

Several other boats attempted the voyage from Lebanon last week: Cyprus rescued 477 people from two vessels that left Lebanon.

The U.N. Refugee Agency said 3,460 individuals had left or attempted to leave Lebanon by sea this year, more than double the number in the whole of 2021.

Those who perished on the boat carrying Misto also included a woman and her four children from the northern Akkar region. The father was one of few survivors, said Yahya Rifai, the mayor of their town. He said the crisis was worse than the civil war.

"I don't know what's wrong with these politicians," he said. "They will have to answer for this."

Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
×