Unrest escalates in crisis-torn Lebanon
Protests enter fourth day amid spiralling pandemic and economic woe
Lebanese rioters set fire to several buildings in the northern city of Tripoli yesterday as outrage over the country’s coronavirus lockdown and inaction of the political class in the face of economic collapse took a more violent turn.
After hours of clashes and following the fires, Lebanese military troops deployed around the city in an effort to quell the rage. Firefighters were battling the flames rising from a historic municipal building, after the rioters set fire to it, two other government buildings and a private university that belongs to a rich businessman and politician from the deeply impoverished city.
The unrelenting protests in Tripoli, now in their fourth day, came as Lebanon grapples with both the pandemic and the worst economic crisis in its history, with only a caretaker government in charge.
Protesters had earlier pelted with rocks the security forces, who responded with volleys of tear gas.
The protests resumed shortly after Omar Taibi, a 30-year-old who was shot by security forces during protests on Thursday, was laid to rest in Tripoli. More than 220 others were injured in the overnight clashes as frustrations boiled over.
The demonstrators denounced Lebanon’s extended shutdown that has exacerbated already dire conditions. The confluence of the crises has posed the biggest threat to Lebanon’s stability since the end of its civil war in 1990.
Tripoli, Lebanon’s second largest city and its most impoverished, has been a centre for demonstrations and rioting against the country’s political class. Smaller protests were reported yesterday and earlier in the week in Beirut and the eastern Bekaa region.
Even before the crises, almost the entire Tripoli workforce depended on day-to-day income. A September study by CARE International in the city of more than 250,000 found that the average household income was
145,000 Lebanese pounds — or less than $28 at the current average blackmarket rate — 33 per cent of those sampled were unemployed.
Dozens of young men have been taking part in the nightly protests in Tripoli, throwing rocks at security forces and in some cases, torching vehicles. On Thursday, protesters repeatedly tried to break into the municipal building. Some lobbed hand grenades at security forces, who responded with water cannon, volleys of tear gas and, finally, live ammunition.
The National News Agency said
226 people were injured in the confrontations, including 26 policemen. Taibi, who was hit by a bullet, died of his wounds yesterday, it said.
Earlier yesterday, security forces brought reinforcements and put up barbed wire around the municipal government compound, known as the Serail. Two torched cars stood nearby. Shops and cafes were open and traffic appeared normal on the streets in clear defiance of the government’s lockdown measures.
Before midnight, Lebanese Red Cross said 102 people were injured in the clashes, including five who were hospitalised. The Internal Security Forces said some of the firebombs used by the protesters fell inside the Serail, sparking a fire in a religious court building within the compound.
Dozens of mourners, most without masks, took part in the funeral of Taibi, whose body was placed in a coffin wrapped in a green cloth. Some fired their guns into the air in a traditional expression of grief.
With a dramatic surge in coronavirus infections, the government has imposed a nearly monthlong nationwide lockdown and round-the-clock curfew until February 8. The measures come on top of the crippling economic and financial crisis that preceded the pandemic in this small country of nearly five million people and more than a million refugees.
Since 2019, the Lebanese currency has been crashing, losing so far more than 80 per cent of its value. Banks have imposed controls on withdrawals and transfers to protect dwindling foreign reserves. Unemployment and inflation have skyrocketed and tens of thousands have been thrown into poverty. About half of the population is now below the poverty line.
While the protests are targeting the lockdown measures, they also reflect the growing anger over authorities’ indifference in the face of Lebanon’s meltdown. The cashstrapped government has done little to compensate or help the impoverished cope with the growing hardships.
“We are not allowed to work. We stay at home, we beg to get bread,” said Rabie Alkheir, a taxi driver. The 55-year-old said if he missed a day of work he missed providing a proper meal for his family.
“Our lawmakers are not taking care of us, we are dying,” he said.
Meanwhile, a power struggle is taking place between the president and prime minister-designate. Fighting over Cabinet seats has blocked the formation of a new government, which is crucial to enacting reforms that would unlock foreign financial assistance.
The government resigned in August, after the huge explosion at Beirut port that killed more than 200 people and wounded thousands, and remains in caretaker capacity.
The troubles have piled up since, including the recent surge in coronavirus cases largely blamed on a decision to relax lockdown measures during the holidays. About 80,000 expatriates travelled to the country to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s with family and friends.
Jan Kubis, the UN’s special coordinator for Lebanon, said violence in Tripoli was yet another message to the political elites to form an effective government without further delay.
“People cannot tolerate anymore this free-fall to abyss,” he tweeted.
Hospitals in Lebanon are overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients, reporting near full occupancy in intensive care-unit beds. Oxygen, ventilators and medicine are in short supply. More than 293,000 infections have been recorded since last February and 2621 deaths — including more than 1000 in January alone.