The country’s currency has collapsed, reaching a historic low in May 2022, meaning much of the population is no longer able to afford the necessities of survival. Then, in 2020, Beirut was shaken by a huge explosion, which killed more than 200 people, injured more than 6,000 and left over 300,000 homeless. Since 2019, the situation has gone from bad to worse, with large-scale popular protests eventually leading to the Prime Minister’s resignation.

Lebanon is dependent on importing most of what it needs and has long kept its economy going through foreign loans and financial transfers from Lebanese nationals abroad. It is a densely populated country with a fragile political balance between different ethnic and religious groups.Įven before the large influx of refugees from Syria, the country was in a precarious economic situation. Lebanon itself has been ravaged by a civil war that lasted from 1975 until 1990. In addition, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees live in the country. The exact number is uncertain because the national authorities demanded that the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) stop the registration of new refugees in 2015. Lebanon, with a population of 6.8 million, is currently hosting an estimated 1.5 million refugees from Syria.

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