The crisis in Lebanon intensified after the trade unions decided to go on strike in order to demand solutions to the dire conditions.
This step comes at a time when the ruling class has done almost nothing to try to extricate the country from the state of collapse, corruption and mismanagement that are rooted in decades.
The political class that runs the country of 6 million people, including one million Syrian refugees, since the civil war that took place between 1975 and 1990, has been faltering in implementing the reforms demanded by the international community.
On Thursday, universities and schools across Lebanon closed, and many citizens were unable to reach workplaces due to road closures.
Demonstrators closed the country’s main highways, as well as roads within cities and towns, starting at five in the morning.
The nationwide protests, dubbed the “Day of Rage”, are set to last 12 hours.
Taxi and truck drivers used their vehicles to block roads, in protest at the sharp increase in fuel prices, as the government lifted subsidies, and demanded access to subsidized fuel again.
In the capital, Beirut, many roads were closed with giant garbage containers and vehicles.
About 80 percent of the Lebanese people live in poverty after the Lebanese pound lost more than 90 percent of its value, and the Lebanese economy contracted by 20.3% in 2020 and by about 7 percent last year, according to the World Bank.
Corruption dilemma
In this context, Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2022, which was released Thursday, that the Lebanese authorities, which were described as “corrupt and incompetent”, deliberately plunged the country into one of the worst economic crises in modern times, which indicates a disregard for the rights of the population.
The organization called on the international community to use “every tool at its disposal to pressure Lebanese decision-makers to implement the necessary reforms to get Lebanon out of this crisis,” according to Aya Majzoub, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch.
She added that pressure should include sanctions against leaders responsible for “ongoing grave human rights violations”.
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