Lebanon crisis: suicides seen as sign of growing desperation

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - A spate of suicides in Lebanon has fuelled public anger over a ballooning economic crisis that has caused prices to soar and increased unemployment as businesses struggle to survive.

The most widely publicised incident took place in the busy Hamra area of Beirut on Friday morning, when a man shot himself in the street outside a cafe.

“Clients were having coffee when a loud voice was heard saying ‘Lebanon free and independent’ followed by a gunshot. There he was, down on the pavement in a pool of blood,” a waiter from a restaurant nearby told The National.

“He had covered his face with a towel to avoid being seen shooting himself. Obviously he committed suicide due to hunger. He left a suicide note beside him that read ‘I am not an atheist’.”

The line is a reference to a well known song by the Lebanese musician Ziad Rahabni that goes: “I am not an atheist … but hunger is an atheist’.

A small Lebanese flag and a certificate stating that the man had no criminal record were also found beside the body.

The certificate identified the man as Ali Al Huq, a 61-year-old Lebanese citizen. He had returned to the country two years ago after nearly five years in the UAE and was working as a manager in a shop on the outskirts of the capital, according to the state-run National News Agency.

Protesters gathered at the site before the body was removed by authorities and chanted slogans blaming the government. In a video circulated on social media, the man’s cousin is heard shouting “he killed himself because of hunger” as security forces finally carried the body away at 1pm.

Lebanon’s financial crisis has only grown worse since increasing hardship triggered popular protests against the political system and corruption last October. The economy took another hit from the lockdown imposed earlier this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. The number of people estimated to be living below the poverty line has reached one million people – about a fifth of the population – after layoffs, salary cuts and businesses closures.

Meanwhile, the value of the Lebanese pound has plummeted from its peg of 1,515 to the US dollar to closer to 9,000 on the black market amid a foreign currency shortage, pushing the price of basic goods beyond the reach of many in the import-dependent country.

On Friday afternoon, news emerged of another suicide in the southern port city of Saida, where a 32-year-old man hung himself at his home Saida, reportedly due to the economic hardship, leaving behind a sick wife and daughter.

A senior Lebanese Internal Security told The National of two other suicides – a man in his eighties who shot himself in Tyre on Saturday, and a man of about 70 who jumped to his death in Baabdat.

Local media reported that the suicide in Tyre was a result of financial problems, but the official, who asked not to be named, said it was because of health issues. The suicide in Baabdat was "due to mental issues and economic pressure", he said.

"Like many other countries, there has been a slight increase in suicide cases for many reasons that aren’t limited to deprivation … Covid-19 and other diseases could be a reason,” the official said.

Sabah Mohammad, a retired teacher, said the crisis had left her feeling hopeless.

“I am barely surviving on my pension and what my daughter sends me from abroad," she said.

"The dollar crisis is pulling us down. There have been waves of criticism over the cabinet’s mishandling and mismanaging the crisis. I survived the civil war but I am unsure if we could survive this economic war.”

Sami Nader, an economist and director of the Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs in Beirut, said he expected more suicides to occur because nothing had been done to get Lebanon out of the current crisis.

“The authorities and the government are totally paralysed … no decision has been taken so far to stop the collapse,” Mr Nader said.

“No reforms are on the horizon and that means no international help, because the only way to get out of the crisis is to get some funds from outside. Now the only available option is the IMF and with all that’s happening, the division inside the government and being incapable of taking any measures to fix the problem, we’re heading for the worst.”