Travel agents in the Lebanese port city of Tripoli have reported a 30 per cent rise in bookings for Turkey, the starting point of the sea journey to Europe, in the past week.
At Tawfic Travel, phones were ringing off the hook yesterday and groups of anxious young men leant on the counter, fidgeting with stacks of Syrian passports.
“There is a huge increase in demand,” said Tahane, an employee who did not want to give her full name. “In the past it was two boats a week [to Turkey], now it is three or four per day.”
Aid agencies confirmed the trend. “I would say, unofficially, through interactions here in Lebanon, that this is definitely having an effect — a pull effect,” said Ahmed