Before the coronavirus came along, Lebanon was in a pretty bad situation. A lot of things were the cause of this. We’ll go through some of the big ones here. The first, economic crisis.
لبنان أعلن عن الأزمة الأقتصادية من سنة تقريباً. بس الأزمة صارة أسوء بشهر أيلول لما بلشة أزمة العملة . أزمة العملة جوهرياً بتعني أنو لبنان ما بيملك عملة أجنبية كافية متاحة بالسوق . هذا كان مهم جداً بلبنان ، حيث يتم أستخدام عملتين على نطاق واسع. الليرة البنانية مرتبطة بالدولار الأمريكي، يلي بيعني أنو التصريف ديماً نفس الشي : 1500 ليرة لبنانية للدولار الواحد. أذا بتروح على البنك ومعك دولار واحد ، هيدا يلي رح تحصل عليه (1500 ليرة لبنانية). الدولار والليرة البنانية أستخدمة للتبادل بلبنان. فيك تدفع بالدولار الأمريكي أو بالليرة البنانية. أجهزة الصراف الألي بتصرف دولار أمريكي و ليرة لبنانية. فيك تفتح حساب بنك باليرة اللبنانية أو بالدولار الأمريكي. لكثير من الناس خلوا المصاري يلي مجمعينن بالدولار، يلي كان مستقر أكثر. لبنان متل أي دولة ثاني , بتشتري إستيراداتا بالدولار. Okay so two currencies used interchangeably, but what has this got to do with the economic crisis? لأي سبب كان ، لبنان بلشت تفلس من الدولار . أجهزة الصراف الألي وقفت تعطي دولارات ، والبنوك منعت الناس من سحب دولاراتن. هذا بيعني المشاكل للمستوردين , يلي بحاجة الدولار ليشتروا بضاعتن . محطات الوقود كانت مثال واضح . لأسابيع كثيرة، العالم توقف بالصف لساعات ليحصلوا على البترول لأن ما كان العرض كبير لتلبية الطلب . الطلب كبيرعلى البترول بلبنان، لأن مافي وسائل نقل عامة , كل الناس بتسوق سيارات خاصة و القاعدة العامة أنوا تسوق أكبر سيارة ممكنة . مع القليل من الدولارات ، الناس خايفة ما يقدروا يحصلوا على دولارات أكثر . في شغلتين صاروا , الناس بلشت تخبي دولارات , ما يصرفوا الدولارات يلي معن . والدولار بلش يصير أغلى , بفضل القواعد القديمة للعرض والطلب . مع إنخفاض عرض الدولار وزيادة الطلب عليها ( لأن الناس بدن يكدسوها ), الدولار صار أغلى بالنسبة لليرة البنانية. سعر صرف الدولار بمحلات الصيرفة رتفع أكثر وأكثر لصار 2000 ليرة لبنانية للدولار الواحد, وهلق رتفع أكثر ليصير تقريباً 3000 ليرة البنانية للدولار الواحد. هذا كان كثير سيئ للأعمال يلي إضظرت تشتري بسعر السوق وتبيع بسعر الرسمي , وخسرة الكثير من أرباحة. و كانت كمان سيئ للناس يلي مدخراتن باليرة البنانية , وكان عليهن يشوفوا مدخراتن عم تختفي. So the dollars stopped moving around the economy, importers were struggling to import basics like petrol, and the Lebanese pound started to lose its value. Then what? كل هذا ضاعف الأزمة الإقتصادية , القادمة من سنوات عديدة . هذا مش بودكاست إقتصادي , فا مش رح نفوت بتفاصيل , لكن سنين من السياسات المالية السيئ , وحتى مع عدم تنفيذ هذه السياسات السيئة يعني أن الإقتصاد اللبناني قنبلة موقوتة , وبإنتضار الإنفجار. ونفجرة هذه السنة , جزئياً هذا يلي سبب الإحتجاجات , بس الإحتجاجات عملت الأزمة الإقتصادية أسوء . المضاهرات , و إستقالة الحكومة , وعدم الإستقرار بسبب هذا الشي صارت الشركات خايفة . والدول الغنية يلي بالعادي بتعطي لبنان قروض لما بتوقع بمشكلة , رفضت تدين لبنان مصاري حتى الحكومة تعمل الإصلاحات يلي بتمنع يصير هذا الشي مرة ثاني. مع دولة شعبا عم يحتج , وبدون حكومة , هذا الشي كان مستحيل . So the ticking time bomb of decades of poor financial regulation and policies finally went off. The years of debt and an unregulated financial sector finally got a bit too much. This both triggered and was compounded by the protests. But don’t get us wrong – we’re not saying the protests caused the economic crisis currently being experienced by Lebanon. The economic crisis was coming, and it was coming fast anyway. But the instability caused by the protests slowed down the hypothetical reforms that could have been made. But with the levels of corruption and the business and financial ties of the ruling elite, these might not have happened anyway. الحالة صارة أسوء وأسوء لشهور . الأعمال بلشت تسكر , الناس بلشوا يخسروا شغلن و العديد منن تلقوا تخفيضات من رواتبن أو تأخير بدفع الرواتب. هذا بيعني لما الكورونا وصل , العديد من الناس كانوا خسرانين شغلن مسبقاً وستعملوا مصرياتن لمجمعينن . العديد من الناس ما قدروا يوصلوا لمدخراتن , لأن البنوك ما كانت تسمح للناس تسحب مصرياتة . لبنان نصابت بكير بكرونا فايروس بشهر شباط. ومثل الكثير من دول العالم بشهر أذار سكروا المدارس , المطار ، البور ، والحدود. سكروا معظم الشركات ، يمكن ما تكون أخبار منيحة للإقتصاد والقيود المفروضة على الحركة. لبنان ماعندوا نظام حماية إجتماعية , فا لما الشركات سكرت , ما كان في بديل عن رواتبن, للناس يلي عم بيعانوا طول الشهر ببلد تكلفة المعيشة في عالي كثير و الرواتب منخفضة للعديد من العمال. So it’s March and the country is on lockdown. This comes in the middle of an economic crisis, when many had lost their jobs and used their savings already. No social protection means that people were on their own. But the situation is worse for some than for others. بلبنان في أكبر عدد للأجئين بالعالم . مع عدد سكانها الأصلين يلي بيبلغ حويلية 6 ملايين نسمة , بتستضيف مليون ونص لاجئ من فلسطين وسوريا. ديماً حالتن أصعب من حالة الشعب البناني. لبنان ما وقعت أتفاقية الأجئين , فا مش ضروري تعطيهن أي حقوق . حقوق عمل الاجئين مقيدة , ما فيهن يمتلكوا أراضي أو أعمال تجارية , وبيتلقوا قدر كبير من التمييز. ما عندن أي حق ليصيروا مواطنين , فا الفلسطينيين يلي وصلوا سنة 1948, ولادن وولاد ولادن , ما صاروا مواطنيين لبنانيين , إلا إذا كانوا محظوظين كفاية ليكون ألن أب لبناني ( المراء البنانية ما فيها تعطي جنسيتا لأطفالة ) . العديد من الفلسطينين بعدن بيعيشوا بمخيمات , حيث الحصول على التعليم , العمل المحترم و العناية الطبية محدودة. يحتاج الاجئون لتجديد تصريح إقامتن كل سنة , يلي بيكلف كل شخض حويلة 200 دولار , للعديد من الاجئين مع عدم وجود شغل محترم ما بيقدروا تحمل التكلفة , فا الكثير منن ما معن وثائق , فا بيجعل الوصول الى الحقوق و الخدمات مستحيلة . الفقر مرتفع كثير عند الاجئين , وكمان المشاكل الاجتماعية بسبب الفقر , مثل زواج الأطفال والعنف المنزلي و عمالة الأطفال . الاجئين السوريين صاروا أكثر فقراً مع السنين , لأنن ستهلكوا مدخراتن . وكان على العديد منن يتحملوا الديون ليأمنوا إحتياجاتن الخاصة , مثل الأكل و الدواء والكتب المدرسية لأطفالن , بالسنوات القلية الماضية , اضطر عدد متزايد من العائلات يبيعوا ممتلاكتن ليدفعوا ثمن السلع الأساسية. So the refugee populations were already in dire straits before the coronavirus, taking on debts and selling their household items to pay for food, medicine, and bills. Most of them receive extremely limited support from organisations such as UNHCR. حساسية الوضع بالنسبة للاجئين بتعني أنوا كورونا فايروس كان كارثة كاملة بالنسبة ألن . لعائلات مسبقاً كانت عم بتعاني بسبب الأزمة الإقتصادية وسعر الأكل المرتفع , يلي كانوا يتدينوا لياكلوا , هذا الوباء كان كابوس. العديد منن ما بيقدروا يطلعوا من بيوتن لأنن مابيقدروا يتحملوا تكلفة تجديد تصريح إقامتن , وفي كثير من الشرطة بالشوارع عم بيفرضوا حضر التجول . هذا بيعني حتى لو الصناعات ما توقفت الاجئين ما بيقدروا يشتغلوا . حتى لو الفيروس ما صار قريب منن , العدييد منن بالكاد بيقدر يوفر الأكل . أذا الفيروس قرب منن العديد منن ما بيقدروا يأمنوا العناية الصحية , و عندن القابلية المحدودة ليروحوا على المشافي أذا قدروا . هذا سواء لأن العديد من البلديات فرضة قيود عنصرية على كرونا فايروس . والبعض من هذه البلديات فرضة حضر تجول على الاجئيين السوريين وما فرضة على اللبنانيين حضر التجول . في حين البعض من هذه البلديات عملت حضر تجول على السوريين قبل الكورنا فايروس , والكثير منن عم بيعملوا هيك هلق . English: Before the coronavirus came along, Lebanon was in a pretty bad situation. A lot of things were the cause of this. We’ll go through some of the big ones here. The first, economic crisis. Lebanon has been in a self-declared ‘economic crisis’ for almost a year now. But this got really bad in September, when the currency crisis started. The currency crisis basically means that Lebanon doesn’t have enough foreign currency available. This was pretty important in Lebanon, where two currencies are widely used. The Lebanese pound is pegged to the US dollar, which means that the exchange rate is always the same: 1500 Lebanese pounds for one dollar. If you go to a bank with one dollar, this is what you will get. Dollars and Lebanese pounds are used interchangeably in Lebanon: you can pay in a mixture of dollars and Lebanese pounds, and get your change in a mixture of dollars and Lebanese pounds. ATMs dispense both dollars and Lebanese pounds. You can open a bank account in dollars or Lebanese pounds. Many people kept their savings in dollars, which was more stable. Lebanon, like many other countries, buys its imports in dollars. Okay so two currencies used interchangeably, but what has this got to do with the economic crisis? For whatever reason, Lebanon started to run out of dollars. The ATMs stopped giving out dollars, and banks wouldn’t let people take their dollars out. This meant trouble for importers, who needed to get dollars to buy their goods. Petrol stations were an obvious example. For weeks, people had to queue for hours to access petrol because the supply wasn’t big enough to meet demand. Demand in Lebanon for petrol is huge, because there’s no public transport so everybody drives and the general rule is that you drive the biggest car you can afford. With so few dollars in the economy, and people afraid that they wouldn’t be able to get more, two things happened: people started to keep dollars, not spending dollars that they had. And the dollar started to get more expensive, thanks to the old rules of supply and demand. As supply of dollars decreased, and demand increased (because people wanted to hoard them), the dollar became more expensive compared to the Lebanese pound. The prices in exchange shops went up and up, to 2000 Lebanese pounds for one dollar, to now almost 3000 Lebanese pounds for one dollar. But officially, the rate was still 1500 Lebanese pounds for one dollar. This was terrible for businesses who had to buy at the market rate, but sell at the official rate, losing a huge amount of their profits. It was also terrible for people who had their savings in Lebanese pounds, and had to watch the value of those savings disappearing. So the dollars stopped moving around the economy, importers were struggling to import basics like petrol, and the Lebanese pound started to lose its value. Then what? All of this compounded an economic crisis that had been coming for many years. This is not an economics podcast, so we won’t go into details, but years of bad financial policies, and not even implementing those bad policies meant that Lebanon’s economy was a time bomb, waiting to explode. It exploded this year. Partially, this is what triggered the protests, but the protests also made the economic crisis worse. The protests, the resignation of the government, and the instability caused meant that businesses got scared and rich countries, which usually give Lebanon loans whenever it gets into trouble, refused to lend Lebanon money until it made reforms that would stop this from happening again. With a country in protest, and no government, this was almost impossible. So the ticking time bomb of decades of poor financial regulation and policies finally went off. The years of debt and an unregulated financial sector finally got a bit too much. This both triggered and was compounded by the protests. But don’t get us wrong – we’re not saying the protests caused the economic crisis currently being experienced by Lebanon. The economic crisis was coming, and it was coming fast anyway. But the instability caused by the protests slowed down the hypothetical reforms that could have been made. But with the levels of corruption and the business and financial ties of the ruling elite, these might not have happened anyway. The situation got worse and worse for months. Businesses started to close, people started to lose jobs and many of those who didn’t received salary cuts or late payments. This means that when the coronavirus came, many people had already lost their jobs and used their savings. Many others could not access their savings, because the banks were not allowing people to withdraw their money. Lebanon was hit quite early by the coronavirus, starting in February. In March, like much of the world, they closed their schools, airport, ports, and borders. They closed almost all businesses, which will probably not be good news for the struggling economy, and enforced restrictions on movement. Lebanon has no social protection system, so when businesses closed, there was no replacement to their salary– people who had often struggled to get through the month in a country with a high cost of living and low salaries for many workers. So it’s March and the country is on lockdown. This comes in the middle of an economic crisis, when many had lost their jobs and used their savings already. No social protection means that people were on their own. But the situation is worse for some than for others. Lebanon has the largest refugee population per capita in the world. With a native population of around 6 million, it hosts at least 1.5 million refugees from Palestine and Syria. Their situation is always worse than the native population. Lebanon has not signed the Refugee Convention, so does not have to give refugees any rights. Refugees have restricted rights to work, cannot own land or businesses, and receive a huge amount of discrimination. They have no right to ever become citizens, so Palestinians who arrived in 1948, their children, and their children’s children, are still not Lebanese citizens, unless they are lucky enough to have a Lebanese father (Lebanese women cannot pass their nationality on to their children). Many Palestinians still live in camps, where access to education, decent work, and healthcare is limited. Refugees need to renew their residence permit every year, which costs around $200 for every person, which many refugees, with no access to decent work, cannot afford, so many are undocumented, making their access to rights and services even more impossible. Poverty is extremely high among refugee populations, as well as social problems that come from poverty, such as child marriage, domestic abuse, and child labour. Syrian refugees have become increasingly vulnerable over the years, as they have used up their savings. Many of them had to take on debts to pay for their basic needs, such as food, medicine, and schoolbooks for their children. In the last few years, an increasing number of families had to sell their belongings to pay for basic goods. So the refugee populations were already in dire straits before the coronavirus, taking on debts and selling their household items to pay for food, medicine, and bills. Most of them receive extremely limited support from organisations such as UNHCR. The vulnerability of the refugee populations means that the coronavirus has been a complete disaster for them. For families that were already struggling because of the economic crisis and high food prices, who were taking on debts to pay for food, this pandemic has been a nightmare. Many of them are unable to leave their houses because they could not afford to renew their residence permit, and there are now many police on the streets enforcing the curfew. This means that even for industries that have not stopped, the refugees can’t work. Even if the virus doesn’t go near them, many of them can barely afford food. If the virus does go near them, many of them can’t afford healthcare, and have limited ability to go to hospitals if they can. This is even worse because many municipalities in Lebanon have introduced discriminatory restrictions for the coronavirus. Some of these municipalities impose a curfew on Syrian refugees that they do not impose on the native Lebanese population. While some of them did this before the coronavirus, more of them are doing it now.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
The page gives you the transcripts of the podcasts, both in English and Arabic, with difficult words highlighted and translated.
Archives
June 2023
Categories |