Khoury, 44, a father of two daughters, said that if there was any reason for hope, he would reverse the decision immediately.
The economic collapse in Lebanon over the past few years had repercussions on the Lebanese in their daily struggle with the crises of shortage of essential medicines, standing for long hours in queues to obtain fuel, and with the inflationary pressures that accompanied the devaluation of the local currency by about 90%, daily life became full of difficulties. .
Many Lebanese who have never thought of traveling feel compelled to start a new life elsewhere.
The PSD says that requests to issue passports amounted to 8,000 requests per day, which exceeds its capacity to accommodate 3,500 requests per day.
Ramzi Al-Rami, head of the directorate’s public relations department, says that the long queues, which increased significantly in August, are partly due to the students’ desire to travel to study abroad before the start of the school year.
As for Khoury, he explored Georgia during the summer with his brother Ronnie, looking forward to an emerging economy in which he could use his expertise in the real estate field and start a new business from scratch.
The Lebanese obtain a one-year tourist visa upon arrival in Georgia, as it is relatively easy to open a bank account and establish a company so that they can obtain residency.
The two brothers are now working on packing to move to Georgia, with the hope that the families will join them within a year, a painful decision despite the chance of a better life.
Rooney said they had reached a point when they needed to work to reduce their losses and start over, adding that it was unfortunate that Lebanon had become a “cemetery of ambitions and dreams.”
lost dreams
In a recent report, the Crisis Observatory at the American University of Beirut, which was established to monitor the impact of the economic crisis in Lebanon, said that hundreds of thousands of Lebanese are leaving in a phenomenon called the “third displacement.”
In another story, Tangi Chemali, 28, and his two partners closed the two restaurants they jointly run in Lebanon to open a new restaurant in Batumi, Georgia’s second largest city. He said the decision to move was final.
Despite the language barrier, as none of the three speak Georgia’s dominant language, he said the restaurant’s founding process was straightforward and that he felt settled.
In a call from Batumi, he added that the three were disappointed in Lebanon.
He said that one of his partners had to sell his car before traveling to Georgia because he could not withdraw his savings from the bank.
The hardest part of Shamali’s decision was to leave his ailing mother with his father, and his ten-year-old sister.
He made it clear that he will only return to spend holidays, visit his family and eat Lebanese food, but he will not return to reside in Lebanon.
.