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On Saturday, Beirut witnessed clashes between security forces and students protesting the decision by private universities to adopt a new exchange rate for the dollar to set the price of tuition, which undoubtedly means an increase.
A France Press correspondent said that security forces fired tear gas near the entrance to the American University of Beirut in the Hamra neighborhood, to disperse protesters trying to approach the main gate.
The students responded by throwing projectiles at the policemen, who formed a human shield to block their path. There were no reports of injuries.
The protests follow the decision of the American University and the Lebanese American University to set tuition fees at an exchange rate of 3,900 Lebanese pounds per dollar, instead of the official rate (1,500 pounds per dollar), which which means a sharp increase in these rates.
Students fear that other universities will follow suit and thus cause a mass exodus to public universities, which suffer from lack of funding and large numbers of affiliates.
Hundreds of students gathered in Hamra during the day on what they called the “Day of Student Wrath” and chanted anti-government slogans calling for an affordable education in a country mired in the worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. According to the United Nations, more than half of Lebanon’s population currently lives in poverty.
Later in the night, protesters set garbage containers on fire and attacked banks before security forces dispersed them.
During the year, the Lebanese pound lost more than two-thirds of its value against the dollar on the black market, as the dollar traded for at least 8,200 Lebanese pounds on Saturday. As a result, the prices multiplied several times.
Banks, for their part, stopped dealing with dollars and restricted withdrawals to Lebanese pounds.
Universities have faced difficulties in dealing with the devaluation of the currency, especially since the government maintains a fixed official rate.
