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Despair is growing in Lebanon. Hungry Lebanese are back on the streets, and three-quarters of the population are believed to need help in the economic crisis, the worst in decades. “It is very difficult to survive,” says Ali Chaito in Beirut.
Many Lebanese find it difficult to meet every day. The photo shows a volunteer filling boxes with supplies distributed to the poor in Lebanon.
It has been over two months since taxi driver Ali Chaito last worked. He doesn’t own his car, and when the corona virus stopped most of his driving, he couldn’t afford to rent it anymore. At his house, they put it off with the rent, but next month the host demands that he pay what he owes.
– But I dont have money. I don’t win anything. If I can’t carry the rent, we have to move, he tells TT from Beirut.
The problems were big even before the virus-related curfew put a key in business. On October 17 of last year, when the large anti-government protests began, the situation worsened for Chaito.
– People stayed at home, roads were blocked, and tourists no longer ventured into Lebanon. The races became less and less. And then came the corona virus. I have no idea when I can afford or have the opportunity to start working again.
For the past six months, Lebanon has experienced a financial crisis of a magnitude that the country barely experienced during the 15-year civil war. Decades of corruption and economic mismanagement, combined with the war in neighboring Syria, have led Lebanon straight into the abyss. Almost two months of coronary restriction have not improved things.
Since October, the Lebanese pound has lost more than half its value. Before the pandemic, the World Bank estimated that 45 percent of the population would fall below the poverty line this year. Now the country’s government estimates that around three-quarters of the population needs help to cope with everyday life. Unemployment is high, the price of vegetables has doubled and meat that used to cost SEK 120 per kilo is now sold for the equivalent of SEK 220.
At the same time, government debt has increased and Lebanon has been forced to suspend payments on external government bonds. The crisis is seen as the biggest threat to stability in the country since the civil war and is now hopeful of the support of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The government approved a reform plan aimed at opening up to foreign aid for billions of classes, restructuring debt and reducing spending. But the austerity plan also contains likely unpopular measures, such as frozen recruitment in the public sector.
The protests that have rocked Lebanon have focused on both the economic situation and the political elite. And after a break due to the curfew, protests erupted again last week, then during the Hunger Uprising slogan.
But Ali Chaito does not participate in the protests. He thinks the Hassan Diab government is doing a good job anyway. But despite that, it is difficult to see flashes of light. His wife has a job at a grocery store, but earns only the equivalent of 2,000 kroner per month. The family, who in addition to Ali Chaito and his wife have three children, is brought together with the help of better mediators.
– It has become very, very, very expensive to buy food, I can barely pay for rice and cooking oil. Life in Lebanon is terribly difficult right now. I have received some food, even from some I know in (Shi’a) Hezbollah. But that’s it, says Chaito.
– We all hope it will be better, but nobody knows how it will be. I don’t even understand how we’ve managed to survive that long.
Months of protests
Since October 2019, Lebanon has been rocked by anti-government protests and financial difficulties.
The launch took place on October 17, when the then government announced new savings and that it wanted to introduce a tax on calls made through messaging applications. Spontaneous protests erupted. The government quickly withdrew the tax proposal, but the protests grew and came to include general living conditions, extensive corruption, and religious contradictions.
On October 29, then Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri announced his departure. But it took a long time to form a new government, in part because the various political groups could not agree on ministerial positions.
On December 19, President Michel Aoun announced that Hassan Diab would be the new Prime Minister. It is backed by the influential Shiite movement Hezbollah, backed by Iran, whose allies have support in parliament.
In January 2020, protests escalated and many were injured in clashes between security forces and protesters. On January 21, Hassan Diab announced his new government.
On April 17, hundreds of people participated in a protest in Tripoli, marking 6 months from the start of the protests. From April 27 to 28, protests in the city became particularly violent and one protester died.
On April 30, the government approved an economic rescue plan.
