BEIRUT (AP) — European aid sent to Lebanon in an attempt to regulate migration by sea is funding practices that violate human rights, according to a global watchdog report published Wednesday.
As part of a policy to contain migration, authorities in Cyprus have physically pushed Syrian refugees back to Lebanon, and Lebanese security agencies have deported them, the Human Rights Watch report said.
The report, based on interviews with 16 Syrians who tried to leave Lebanon via smuggler boats, found that 15 of them “suffered human rights violations at the hands of Lebanese and/or Cypriot authorities.”
Rights groups have frequently criticized the tactics of authorities in both Lebanon and Cyprus in dealing with would-be migrants and asylum seekers. Officials from the two countries deny violating any laws but say they are overwhelmed by the migration they are facing.
Lebanon, which has been in the throes of a severe financial crisis since 2019, hosts around 775,000 registered Syrian refugees and hundreds of thousands more unregistered, the world’s highest refugee population per capita.
Lebanese political officials have pushed for western countries to resettle the refugees or assist in returning them to Syria — voluntarily or not. At the same time, Lebanon has an agreement with Cyprus to halt the smuggling of migrants and has received substantial funding from the European Union and European countries for border control.
In some cases, Syrian refugees who were caught by the Lebanese army attempting to leave to Cyprus by sea have been driven to the Lebanon-Syria border and dumped on the Syrian side, Human Rights Watch said. Allegedly, some of them were then detained by the Syrian army, while others were extorted by smugglers for passage back to Lebanon.
Cyprus, meanwhile, suspended processing of Syrian asylum applications in April. Human Rights Watch accused Cypriot authorities of forcibly turning back boats carrying asylum seekers coming from Lebanon.
In some cases, Cypriot authorities forcibly prevented asylum seekers from landing, and in other cases they made it to shore but “were not given the opportunity to claim asylum” and instead were detained and then returned to Lebanon, where some were then deported to Syria, the report said.
“Both Lebanese and Cypriot authorities used excessive force at the time of arrest and during detention,” Human Rights Watch said.
The European Union and European countries gave Lebanon some 16.7 million euros ($18.5 million) from 2020 to 2023 for border management “mainly in the form of capacity-building projects explicitly aimed at enhancing Lebanon’s ability to prevent irregular migration,” the report said. In August, the European Union allocated another 32 million euros ($35.3 million) to “continue implementing border management enhancement projects in Lebanon through 2025,” it said.
Cyprus’ Deputy Ministry of Migration and International Protection in a statement denied carrying out so-called pushbacks. It noted that Cyprus is a “small frontline country” that has “received massive migrant flows over the last few years.”
“The state’s capacity to host additional migrants is overstretched,” the statement said. “Therefore, we aim to strike a balance between our legal obligations and the realities on the ground.”
Lebanon’s General Security agency told Human Rights Watch that between Jan. 1, 2022, and Aug. 1, 2024, it recorded 1,388 people, including 821 Syrians, on 15 departing boats, who were caught attempting to leave Lebanon. General Security maintained that every deportation of which it “had knowledge and on which it coordinated, was subject to international human rights law standards.”
Acting Director-General Beate Gminder of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs said in a response to the report’s findings that the commission “takes allegations of wrongdoings very seriously,” but that it is the responsibility of national authorities to “investigate any allegations of violations of fundamental rights” and to prosecute wrongdoing.
Associated Press writer Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia, Cyprus, contributed to this report.
FILE - Migrants aboard a Cyprus marine police patrol boat as they're brought to a harbor after being rescued from their own vessel off the Mediterranean island nation's southeastern coast of Protaras, Cyprus, on Jan. 14, 2020. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File)
Tito Jackson, one of the brothers who made up the beloved pop group the Jackson 5, has died at age 70.
Tito was the third of nine Jackson children, which include global superstars Michael and sister Janet, part of a music-making family whose songs are still beloved today.
“It’s with heavy hearts that we announce that our beloved father, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Tito Jackson is no longer with us. We are shocked, saddened and heartbroken. Our father was an incredible man who cared about everyone and their well-being,” his sons TJ, Taj and Taryll said in a statement posted on Instagram late Sunday.
The Jackson 5 included brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael. The family group, which was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, produced several No. 1 hits in the 1970s including "ABC," “I Want You Back” and “I’ll Be There.”
The Jackson 5 became one of the biggest names in music under the guidance of their father, Joe Jackson, a steelworker and guitar player who supported his wife and nine children in Gary, Indiana. As the family’s music careers took off, they relocated to California.
Born on Oct. 15, 1953, Toriano Adaryll “Tito” Jackson was the least-heard member of the group as a background singer who played guitar. His brothers launched solo careers, including Michael, who became one of the world's biggest performers known as The King of Pop.
Michael Jackson died at age 50 on June 25, 2009.
Speaking to The Associated Press in December 2009, Jackson said his younger brother's death pulled the family closer together.
“I would say definitely it brought us a step closer to each other. To recognize that the love we have for each other when one of us is not here, what a great loss,” he said, adding he would personally never “be at peace with it.”
“There’s still moments when I just can’t believe it. So I think that’s never going to go away,” he said.
In 2014, Jackson said he and his brothers still felt Michael Jackson's absence in their shows, which continued with international tours.
“I don’t think we will ever get used to performing without him. He’s dearly missed," he said, noting that Michael's spirit "is with us when we are performing. It gives us a lot of positive energy and puts a lot of smiles on our faces."
Days before his death, Jackson posted a message on his Facebook page from Germany on Sept. 11, where he visited a memorial to Michael Jackson with his brothers.
“Before our show in Munich, my brothers Jackie, Marlon, and I, visited the beautiful memorial dedicated to our beloved brother, Michael Jackson. We’re deeply grateful for this special place that honors not only his memory but also our shared legacy. Thank you for keeping his spirit alive," he wrote.
Tito Jackson was the last of the nine Jackson siblings to release a solo project with his 2016 debut, “Tito Time.” He released a song in 2017, “One Way Street,” and told the AP in 2019 that he was working on a sophomore album.
Jackson said he purposely held back from pursuing a solo career because he wanted to focus on raising his three sons, TJ, Taj and Taryll, who formed their own music group, 3T. Jackson's website offers a link to a single featuring 3T and Stevie Wonder titled, “Love One Another.”
Tito Jackson also is survived by his brothers Jermaine, Randy, Marlon and Jackie, his sisters Janet, Rebbie and La Toya and their mother, Katherine. Their father died in 2018.
Jackson's death was first reported by Entertainment Tonight.
FILE - Pop star Michael Jackson, center, his mother Katherine Jackson, right, and brother Tito Jackson, left, leave Santa Barbara County Superior Court in Santa Maria, Calif., April 7, 2005, after another day of testimony in Michael Jackson's child molestation trial. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File)
FILE - From left, brothers Jackie Jackson, Tito Jackson, Jermaine Jackson and Marlon Jackson pose for a portrait together in Beverly Hills, Calif., Dec. 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
FILE - Singer Tito Jackson arrives at the opening night of, "Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour," in Los Angeles, Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg, File)
FILE - The Jackson 5, Michael Jackson, front right; Marlon Jackson, front left; Tito Jackson, back left; Jackie Jackson, back center; and Jermaine Jackson, back right; pose for this undated photo together in Los Angeles. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Tito Jackson, a member of the famed Jackson 5, poses for a portrait in Los Angeles, July 24, 2019, to promote his solo project, a new version of his 2017 song "One Way Street." (Photo by Mark Von Holden/Invision/AP, File)
