Because calamities do not come individually, Lebanon has been witnessing 3 successive crises for less than a year now. The deterioration began with the economic ordeal caused by the collapse of the Lebanese pound against the dollar, followed by the Coronavirus pandemic and the precautionary measures it imposed, including a general lockdown that was repeated more than once, before the explosion of Beirut port came on August 4, destroying large parts of the capital. The three crises besieged, albeit to varying degrees, all the inhabitants of the Lebanese territories.
Day workers, foreign workers, and refugees have been the most affected by the crisis because they are simply the most vulnerable, living day by day without any financial or health guarantees. The repercussions of these crises did not take long to reflect on their daily lifestyle.
With regard to the Lebanese day workers, thousands of them have found themselves out of work, either because of being abandoned by their enterprises or due to the decline in the sectors in which they work, such as the port and construction. These workers did not know how to manage their daily living. Their best choices were bitter in light of the government’s absence from assuming its role in providing social and economic assistance. And in recent months, there has been a growing phenomenon of reverse migration from major cities, specifically Beirut, towards villages and rural areas, where the cost of housing is lower or avoidable. Irregular migration, albeit in limited numbers, has also returned through the "death boats" towards European countries. Despite the authorities ' swift action to curb this phenomenon, its rates may be liable to rise at any moment.
Foreign workers, particularly those living in Beirut's worst-affected port blast area, have found themselves forced to deal with the crises of economic collapse, the Coronavirus, and the port explosion at the same time. On the one hand, at least dozens of them (there are no exact statistics on their number) lost their shelter and were forced to move to live temporarily with their acquaintances in difficult circumstances, knowing that the chances of compensating for their losses are low compared to Lebanese. Their monthly incomes also declined. And what they earn is not enough to secure the cost of living. As a result, they had to stop transferring money to their families, especially with the dollar price on the black market exceeding their incomes in a whole month. Those who were lucky had the chance to return to their country. As for the rest, particularly those who have problems with their legal papers, they were forced to wait for solutions. These solutions are difficult to provide, except through clear procedures involving the Lebanese State and the embassies of their respective countries, with the Lebanese authorities acting as facilitators (such as allowing their legal status to be settled through exemption from fines). And those who are subject to the “kafala” system, they became widely deprived of their salaries in dollars as reqquired under their employment contracts, or in the equivalent in Lebanese pounds according to the black market exchange rate, due to the inability or reluctance of their employers to secure those salaries, and a flagrant deficiency in the Banque Du Liban platform system, which supposedly allows funds to be transferred to them at a dollar rate equivalent to 3,900 LBP. And in many cases, women domestic workers were abandoned by employers and left at the gates of their country’s embassies (Ethiopia, Nigeria as an example), before Non-Governmental Organizations intervened to support them, by providing them with temporary shelter, without being able alone to deal with this crisis’ repercussions.
If images of the suffering of the day and foreign workers apply to refugees, namely Syrians, then they finally face an additional problem. They have become increasingly criticized for the assistance they receive from United Nations agencies. Several cases have been reported in which Lebanese complain about their difficult circumstances, and compare them to the situation of refugees, and the food, medical and even education assistance the latter receive, before reaching their own inaccurate conclusion that "the refugees conditions are better".
Signs of community tension emerged, particularly after the Beirut port explosion, as cases were documented about refugees being denied or forbidden access to aid distributed in affected areas under the heading of "Intended for Lebanese Only". Cases were also recorded of refugees being subjected to racist practices and harassment while in front of the headquarters of associations or relief tents. All of this happened despite the damage they suffered from the explosion. Statistics showed that dozens of refugees were killed and injured, and that many lost their places of residence, and even lost their jobs, especially those working as day workers in the port, or in institutions damaged by the explosion.
If global experiences link recessions and economic crises to the rise of hate speech against foreigners in general, then what is happening in Lebanon towards refugees cannot be separated from the political discourse led by active parties, and leads to increased hostility towards refugees.
Despite the efforts of some Non-Governmental Organizations to address this phenomenon, they will not be sufficient to block it as it requires action at more than one level. Officially, there is an urgent need for the authorities to adopt a clear policy criminalizing hate speech and any racist practices. It also requires politicians to stop fueling hatred and hostility towards refugees. The media is also supposed to play a role in countering this rhetoric and refuting the false allegations that are being promoted.
In addition, UN organizations and civil society institutions assistance programs should better take into account the needs of the local communities where refugees are present, and ensure that all parties benefit from any assistance programs, in order to reduce the risk of exacerbating community tensions.