The population increases every summer Lebanon. Beirut International Airport is the port of entry for most new visitors to the country. But they know where they are going, they don’t need a guide or a taxi to pick them up at the exit. On the contrary, they know Lebanon’s only active terminal like the back of their hand. Finally, It’s always the same people who come back. His return implies a joy that goes beyond sentimentality, for The country is in financial ruin permanent, at the economic limit. between 2.2 million visitors Expected for this summer – lasting through October in cedar country – predicted 75 percent are Lebanese those residing abroad. Its presence is equivalent to 40% of the country’s population.
For most returnees, the journey is a Breathe the fresh air among family, feasts and friends. But for others, it is a reminder of the many reasons that drove them away from their country. David Abou Chacra He spent most of his life in Lebanon, but in 2006 his family moved to Lebanon due to the war with Israel. Canada where his mother also comes from. They later returned, but in 2014, he decided to choose one of the countries of his birth in favor of the other to continue his studies. Currently, he has completed his PhD as follows: engineer artificial intelligence and returned to visit Lebanon for the first time in four years.
“A foreign country”
“I was very worried about the trip before I arrived, because when I talk to my friends and family, it feels like they are describing a country that is foreign to me,” he confesses to this newspaper. The Lebanon he left behind had more than two hours of public electricity a day, the local currency was 95 percent intact, and the currency was 95 percent intact. 80 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. Banks had not frozen depositors’ savings either; rates inflation higher of the world. “It took me a few weeks to adjust to this new reality, but once I got used to it, it was like being back home,” says Abou Chacra, who extended his first trip by two weeks and ended up staying here. two and a half months. This is your house.
In its place, Murielle el Feghaly I was clear about this before I came. He would spend his entire three-week holiday in his country. She had two weddings and was a bridesmaid in one of them. He joined multiple groups even just a year ago 200,000 Lebanese left Lebanon in the last five years. “Summers in Lebanon are amazing, so I honestly wouldn’t want to spend it anywhere else,” he says France, where he worked as a surgeon. The tourism industry depends heavily on such tourists, who arrive with foreign currencies seeking to boost Lebanon’s economy, which is suffering from one of the world’s worst crises since 1850. world Bank.
Tourism is one of the few sectors that creates employment, with an unemployment rate of around 30 percent. In May, Acting Minister of Tourism Walid Nassar predicted that the tourism sector would generate revenue this year will reach 9 billion dollarsLast year it was 6.5 billion dollars. This expected figure is equivalent to: 41% of reduced GDP from Lebanon. And Lebanese expats have a lot to do with it. According to 2022 figures, this visitor group 63% of total arrivals. Its share increased to 68% in the first quarter of this year.
Economic and social bubbles
In some ways, this relative dependence on Lebanese expatriates creates bubbles into which locals pay. Lebanese poundThese are hard to come by as prices rise before the summer season and never fall again after the season is over. “It gave me the feeling that something had happened general angerbut at the same time, nothing changed, everything remained the same, but at the same time, everything was different,” Feghaly recalls. “Everything is more expensive and charged in dollars, so I didn’t even need to convert my money into Lebanese pounds,” says the young surgeon. A large part of life and entertainment in the country is reserved for the elite, because Only 13 percent of families have access to dollarsAccording to a 2021 study by the American University of Beirut.
“Before we All more complex and integrated, but now we see a clear distinction between those who charge in dollars,” Abou Chacra admits. Returning to Lebanon does not always mean returning home. For this 31-year-old engineer, his relationship with the country is “dysfunctional” and contradictory: “I feel very good.” weak To change something here.” “In the end, one of my two countries treated me very well, and the other was a complete disaster,” says David. This time we leave Lebanon for new expat Murielle “He broke my heart.” “Being in the diaspora is difficult, interesting, exciting and a mix of everything,” he admits.
Instability resulting from deep-rooted conflicts and a disrupted economy Lebanese diaspora It is approximately one of the largest in the world. The number of Lebanese abroad (8 million) is twice as many as inside country (4.6 in 2020). “After the pandemic and the explosion in Beirut port [el 4 de agosto de 2020]Those of us who lived outside felt strange, because we we are suffering but in another way,” Abou Chacra admits. Therefore, returning every summer is the key for these expats. “Lebanon is my roots, my ancestral land,” the Lebanese-Canadian young man says without thinking.