Beirut has been rocked by a disastrous explosion. Lebanon was in crisis before this event happened.

On the 4th August Beirut was rocked as 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploding in Beirut’s port.  This explosion caused hundreds of deaths, thousands of injuries and has made around 300,000 people homeless.  This alone was devastating, but Lebanon had already in crisis before this disaster.  The origins of Lebanon’s problems are complicated and have their origin in the complex history and geopolitics of the area.  The Lebanese Civil War ended in 1990 after the signing of the Taif Agreement in 1989.  This agreement redrew the National Pact.  This pact was an informal arrangement between Lebanon’s different religious groups on how to share power.  Under the agreement Lebanon’s president must be a Maronite Catholic, the prime mister must be a Sunni Muslim and the speaker of the house must be a Shia Muslim.   The Lebanese parliament’s seats are divided equally between Christians and Muslims, with this allotment being further broken down into the 18 officially recognised sects.  Before the Taif Agreement, parliamentary seats were divided at a ratio of 6:5 in favour of the Christians.  This system is deliberately set up to stop any religious group gaining predominant power.  Naturally, this has led to reduced competition for political offices and has meant most political parties and leaders having direct connections to the various civil war factions.  Corruption and cronyism have been able to flourish within this insider political class.

This confessional system has made it difficult for parliament and the cabinet to pass legislation even on mundane issues as it is very easy for the system to become deadlocked.  For this reason, the state apparatus in Lebanon is not effective.  Many Lebanese people often turn to influential politicians to get jobs and services.   This is one of the main ways that Lebanese politicians maintain their support base.  It also means the civil service is inefficient as appointments are made for political rather than operational reasons.  

Political deadlock has also meant that the Lebanese economy has suffered from lack of governmental input.  The Lebanese backing system had be reliant on remittances from Lebanese people living abroad to prop up the Lebanese Pound with US Dollars.  These remittances had also been used by Lebanese government for much needed revenue.  However, there has been a reduction in remittances in the last few years.  This has led to devaluation of the Lebanese Pound and the government has attempted to raise new taxes, such as a controversial WhatsApp tax.  These new taxes have been unpopular and caused protests, which led to the resignation of the previous government. 

In January Hassan Diab was appointed prime minister and in turn had a cabinet approved by parliament.  Despite this, Diab’s government has faced widespread protests as Lebanon’s faltering economy and currency had led to drastic increases in food prices and cost of other essential goods and services.  The situation was made even more dire by the Covid-19 emergency.  The unemployment rate had passed 30% by June 2020.  On top of this Lebanon is host to hundreds of thousands of refugees, mainly from Syria.  Life was already very difficult for the refugees, but the recent food prices has made the situation critical.

Lebanon was in crisis already before the explosion this August.  The explosion has caused widespread damage in Beirut with hundreds of thousands being made homeless, hospitals and schools being ruined, and 10 churches being destroyed.  Certain groups have tried to capitalise on this emergency by buying land and damaged property while it is cheap.  Clergy on the ground have been active in trying to prevent local people from being taken advantage of.  The results of the explosion will be felt in the rest of Lebanon.  Beirut port was the main port in Lebanon, with the explosion having devastate the port’s infrastructure and leaving it inoperable.  This is going to make the food situation in Lebanon even worse than it had been before. 

It was for this reason that Aid to the Church in Need had committed €250,000 for 5,880 food packages for Beirut.  The distribution of these food packages is underway, as Aid to the Church in Need works closely with the local Church and other Catholic organisations such as Caritas and the Catholic Near East Welfare Association.  We would ask all of you in the coming weeks and months to keep the Lebanese people in your prayers as the impact of this disastrous explosion will be felt for a long time to come.  If you would like to offer financial support to help with the recovery of this disaster, please consider donating to our Lebanon Aid Campaign.