UN leader calls on nations to provide more support for crisis-hit Lebanon
BEIRUT – United Nations Secretarygeneral Antonio Guterres said on Sunday the international community has not done enough to support Lebanon, grappling with a dire economic crisis and home to more than 1 million Syrian refugees. He urged more support at the start of a three-day visit to the small Mediterranean country.
Guterres urged more support after he arrived at the small Mediterranean country on a high-profile, three-day visit, and spoke after his meeting with Lebanon President Michel Aoun.
At the outset of his visit, Guterres said the visit will focus on supporting the people of the crisis-stricken country. But he pressed the political leadership to overcome their differences to find ways to resolve the crisis.
International donors have extended humanitarian assistance to the country to deal with the crisis, but have declined to offer support to the government before a plan for reform is agreed upon.
The Lebanese are facing a deteriorating economic crisis that began in late 2019 and is rooted in years of mismanagement and corruption. The crisis, including a serious collapse of the national currency and deepening poverty, has since only been compounded by the pandemic, bickering among rival political groups and a massive explosion at the port of Beirut in August 2020 that left more than 216 people killed and thousands injured. It also destroyed major parts of the capital.
“I believe the international community has not done enough to support Lebanon ... and other countries in the world that have opened their borders, doors and hearts to refugees when unfortunately some much more richer and much more powerful close their borders,” Guterres said, speaking to the press as he stood next to Aoun.
He said a U.N. emergency response plan is only 11% funded, urging more support.
Lebanon’s population of 6 million includes more than 1 million Syrian refugees. “If there is a word to characterize my visit, that word is solidarity,” he said.
Lebanon’s crisis has been made worse by a political leadership deeply divided over key issues leading to a paralysis of the government and parliament. The divisions have delayed reforms and negotiations with the International Monetary Fund over a recovery plan.
Guterres said he urges the country’s politicians to work together to resolve this crisis. “Seeing the suffering of the people of Lebanon, Lebanese political leaders don’t have the right to be divided and paralyze the country,” he said, calling Aoun the symbol of unity.
The economic collapse in Lebanon has been described as one of the worst in the world in more than 150 years. Inflation and prices of basic goods have skyrocketed in Lebanon, which imports more than 80% of its basic goods.