His entire family perished in the shipwreck in the Mediterranean. Wissam Tellawi miraculously survived. "God first made me die and then brought me back to life," he remembers while tears fill his eyes.

Wissam Tellawi saw two of his children die in his arms in the Mediterranean, while their two siblings vanished from their mother's arms, swallowed by the waves. Later, his wife also disappeared in the waters.

The 37-year old and his family shipwrecked between Lebanon and Syria in mid-September. The waves of that "terrible night" pushed him and another 20 survivors towards the coast of the Syrian port of Tartus.

"My son died in my arms, he was too weak. Then I remained at sea for two days, I lost consciousness and when I woke up I could no longer find my daughter whom I had tied to me," he recounts with desperation.

There were over 150 persons, maybe 160, he continues, on a makeshift boat, which "the human traffickers obliged us at gun point to board. I wanted to disembark when I saw the ship was crammed, they pointed their gun toward my son, threatening to throw him overboard."

Over 100 people lost their lives in the shipwreck, mostly Lebanese, Palestinian and Syrian families, fleeing desperate economic conditions in war-torn Syria and crisis-hit Lebanon.

Accusations against Lebanese authorities

Tellawi is originally from the north of Lebanon, where he returned a few weeks ago from neighboring Syria. He has now gone back to his job in Tripoli as trash collector.

He has no doubt when pointing responsibility for what happened not only toward the traffickers and local smugglers but also against some members of the Lebanese army and navy.

A local expert told us that corruption among Lebanese officials has risen due to the dire economic situation in the country.

"With his local currency salary, a Lebanese official is barely able to pay transport costs," explained lawyer Muhammad Sabluh from Tripoli. The lawyer follows Tellawi's case and other shipwreck survivors. "It is normal that today it is easier to bribe Lebanese military, asking them to look the other way when they see migrant ships," he added.

Lebanese authorities have always denied corruption accusations.

Increased migration from north Lebanon

The phenomenon of irregular migration via boat from northern Lebanon has been known for at least ten years, but it has intensified over the last two years.

The reasons for this are not solely the economic crises in Lebanon and Syria, but also growing restrictions of European countries in allowing visas and the recent blockage of passports by Syrian and Lebanese authorities.

"It is not the extremely poor who try to leave, because they lack the resources to pay the traffickers," says Obeida Tikriti, a researcher from Tripoli. "Those who leave are those who no longer have any hope but who have access to some savings, through family funds or from family abroad."

People have to pay smugglers approximately $6,000 per person to leave for Europe from the beaches of northern Lebanon.

"I paid almost $20,000," says Tellawi. He sold his family home to finance the voyage in which he saw his entire family perish.