Lebanon's army arrests 64 people, including pregnant woman, trying to flee by sea

Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese among those detained by military

A helicopter searches for missing people after a boat capsized near Tripoli in April. The Lebanese army have arrested 64 people who they say were attempting to flee ‘illegally’ by sea. AP

The Lebanese military has arrested 64 people, including a pregnant woman, trying to "illegally" escape the country by sea, it said on Tuesday.

Those arrested included Syrians, Lebanese and Palestinians, who the army said were attempting to leave from the north, near Tripoli.

"The pregnant woman, who was bleeding, was transported to a hospital for treatment," the army said.

In April, a boat carrying 60 people capsized off the coast of Tripoli, Lebanon’s second-largest and most impoverished city.

People have been increasingly escaping the country in recent years, The National has reported, including Palestinians and Syrians who came to Lebanon to flee wars and strife in their own countries.

The Lebanese pound has plummeted to a low of LL35,0000 to the US dollar, prompting protests and sit-ins across the capital.

Lebanon is a small nation of 6 million people, including 1 million Syrian refugees who fled the civil war in their country which erupted in 2011. Lebanon is also home to tens of thousands of Palestinians, most of them descendants of people displaced after Israel was created in 1948.

Would-be migrants often pay thousands of dollars to smugglers who promise to take them on boats to European Union member states such as Cyprus, Greece and Italy.

With additional reporting from the Associated Press