Priyanshi Srivastava
SVKM’s NMIMS School of Law, Mumbai
Introduction:
A massive explosion occurred on 4th August 2020 at a warehouse on the waterfront of the Port of Beirut, Lebanon. It killed at least 135 people, wounded at least 5,000, left some 300,000 homeless and devastated the city’s port area causing damage estimated between $10 billion and $15 billion. The blast, according to the government of Lebanon, owed its origin to 2700 tons of ammonium nitrate kept in the port warehouse for six years. Multiple reports suggest that a massive tremor-causing explosion was preceded by a fire, possibly by firecrackers.
Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon which was due to re-enter the lockdown this week to tackle resurgent covid-19, must instead find shelter for almost 3,00,000 new homeless people, or about one resident in eight, after this explosion of almost nuclear proportions devastated entire neighbourhoods of the city.
Unrest in Lebanon even before the Disaster:
Today the country of Lebanon is suffering from one of the worst economic crises in the world. Not only an economic crises but also health crisis, garbage crisis and rampant unemployment has taken over the country. The exact reason behind the explosion has not yet been discovered but the reason stated so far reveals that someone had stored more than 2700 tonnes of aluminum nitrate in a wrongful manner in Beirut Port which is jointly managed by the customs authority and the Beirut Port Authority.
Political System of Lebanon:
Lebanon has very different religious demographic systems which consist of Sunni Muslims, Shia Muslims, Maronite Christians, and others which are of small and different religious communities. Lebanon got independence from French colonisers in 1943. The new government after the independence came up with a National Pact which stated that they would provide equal representation to every religious community. They focused not only on providing equal opportunity to every religious community but also stated to give equal representation in the parliament.
The rule made by the government stated that the Prime Minister of this country would always be a Sunni Muslim, their President would always be a Maronite Christian and the speaker of the parliament would always be a Shia Muslim, but this system didn’t work as planned. Every religious community made its own political party and worked for the future and interests of that specific religious community which ultimately led to an increase in conflicts among the communities. This sectarian political system was even made responsible as one of the key reasons for the Civil war that lasted from 1975 to 1990. The country could not function properly as religion was so involved in politics, that every community would vote for their own community’s political party and support their interest which led to the external forces (other foreign countries) also exerting their influence on Lebanon.
Economic Crisis (2019) in Lebanon:
According to reports, Lebanon has the 3rd worst debt to GDP ratio at 150%. In today’s date, the youth unemployment rate is 37% whereas the overall unemployment rate is 25%. In Lebanon, more than 1/3rd of the population is below the poverty line.
The government faced major issues in terms of lack of funds and huge debt which led the government to increase the taxation on the public. In relation to increasing the tax, the government on 17th October announced a new tax on WhatsApp calls which will cost the public 6$ per month. This announcement of new tax resulted in anger amongst public, anti-government protests, and thus began the October Revolution, 2019. Consequently, the government took back this decision but protests continued after which their Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned and a new Prime Minister was elected named Hassan Diab.
Current Situation:
The crisis of covid-19 degraded the economic conditions and the consequent explosion has made matters worse. The new Minister has also given his resignation after the blast. According to a BBC report, the Beirut explosion has caused damage worth $ 3 billion, while the country’s collective loss is estimated at $ 15 billion. A large part of the capital city has been devastated. The protesters throughout the country want to completely change the political system, introduce fair tax and financial procedures, demand the recovery of stolen goods and want the authorities to hold the corrupt accountable.
REFERENCES:
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Nagle, J., & Fakhoury, T. (n.d.). After the Beirut blast, the international community must stop propping up Lebanon’s broken political system. The Conversation. Retrieved August 18, 2020, from http://theconversation.com/after-the-beirut-blast-the-international-community-must-stop-propping-up-lebanons-broken-political-system-144302
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What Really Happened at the Port of Beirut? (2020, August 7). Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/beirut-port-explosion/
