TRIPOLI, Lebanon—On Sept. 7, Mohammed Hosni and two close friends clambered into a rickety boat with dozens of other people near this port city, bound for Cyprus, an island outpost of the European Union just 100 miles away. Each paid smugglers 5 million Lebanese pounds—$650—for the promise of a new life in Europe. Some sold their homes; others sold their personal belongings and jewelry. None intended to return.
Hosni, 24, had been hit hard by Lebanon’s economic crisis. He hadn’t had regular work in months. He and his brother Ali took turns driving a cab, but they brought home only 50,000 pounds a day—worth $30 in October 2019, but just $7 now. None of his other five siblings have work, and his mother’s medicines have tripled in price.
