A wave of Lebanese immigration to Cyprus to escape the crisis
During the past months, hundreds of Lebanese have flown the two hundred kilometers separating their country and the island of Cyprus to settle there, albeit temporarily, to escape the inferno of the crisis in their country, where electricity is cut off, fuel and medicine are scarce, and the horizon is blocked.
After an eagerly awaited flight, although it did not exceed 25 minutes, the Lebanese woman, Nanour Abashian, 30, with her husband and two children, exited Larnaca Airport from Beirut, dragging seven bags, most of them large.
"My pain is very great because I left my country and my family, but I am forced to do so, because I want to raise my children with honor and dignity and ensure their future," she told AFP.
Lebanon has been witnessing a severe economic crisis for nearly two years, which the World Bank has ranked among the worst in the world since 1850. The Lebanese are unable to withdraw their money from banks due to restrictions resulting from the lack of liquidity, the deterioration of the exchange rate of the Lebanese pound by more than ninety percent, and many have lost their jobs.
At the same time, electricity is cut off most of the day and night, and there is no diesel in the market to run generators.
This is reflected in all aspects of life.
The country is also witnessing crises of medicine, bread and other basic items.
Thousands of Lebanese left the country in the wake of the crisis.
Many of them chose Cyprus, and Agence France-Presse was not able to obtain their exact number, because there is no official census yet, and some entered with non-Lebanese passports.
But the Lebanese ambassador to Cyprus, Claude Al-Hajal, confirmed to AFP that since October 2019, with the outbreak of popular protests in Lebanon against the political class, "we noticed a significant increase in the number of family files opened at the embassy, and we recorded the largest increase after the August explosion" in the port of Beirut, which resulted in More than two hundred dead and six thousand wounded and destroyed parts of the capital.
Claudia El Hajal, Lebanese Ambassador to Cyprus
It is not the first time that the Lebanese have sought refuge in Cyprus extensively.
During the civil war (1975-1990), a large number of them moved to the island, and a large part of them returned to the country after the war ended.
"In the 1980s, there were 100,000 family files registered at the embassy," Al-Hajal said.
Also, during the July 2006 war between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah, Cyprus served as a rear base for Lebanon.
In light of the closure of Beirut airport, which was subjected to Israeli bombardment, evacuation ships set out from Beirut and transported foreign nationals to the island to leave for their countries.
It also transported Lebanese who lived in Cyprus for a temporary period, pending the end of military operations.
Agence France-Presse had met Nanour's family at their home north of Beirut, two days before they traveled to Cyprus.
"I decided to leave Lebanon because we no longer feel safe... We are in the unknown, we live in humiliation," the young mother said that day while packing her belongings.
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