Lebanon’s economic crisis endures, as does the EU’s ‘fear’ of refugees

 Analysts and rights groups question whether large EU grants to Lebanon have anything to do with getting its economy out of the hole it is in.

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najeeb Makati, center, Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyden meet at the government palace in Beirut on May 2, 2024 [Hassan Ammar/AP Photo]

Lebanon and the Lebanese people are still suffering a debilitating economic crisis that has gripped the country since 2019.

The pound has plummeted to less than 10 percent of its value before the crisis, savings have disappeared both in terms of exchange rates and actual deposits as banks announce they have no cash to release, and more and more people worry about simply staying alive.

About 80 percent of the population is below the poverty line and 36 percent is below the “extreme poverty line”, living on less than $2.15 a day.

A recent deal worth 1 billion euros ($1.06bn) with the European Union may have been seen as a godsend in such circumstances, but it has brought to the fore even more problems.

‘Shameful’

EU grants over the past three years are not purely to help Lebanon’s economy.

Rather, they are mostly to “ensure the wellbeing of host communities and Syrian refugees”, as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. Nearly three-quarters of the package is earmarked for that in hopes that refugees will be dissuaded from heading for Europe.

Lebanon has taken in millions of Syrian refugees who have fled their country’s 13-year war.

The EU package was strongly criticised by human rights workers and analysts, who said the deal rewards the state’s financial mismanagement and mistreatment of the Syrian community.

More than 300 Syrians have returned – or been returned – to their home country in what Lebanese authorities call a “voluntary return” programmed.