Between 7,000 and 8,000 passport applications are being submitted on a daily basis in Lebanon, a senior security official revealed on Saturday.
In an interview with Radio Liban Libre, General Security Chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim said that his security apparatus was unable to keep up with the daily influx of passport applications.
“7,000 and 8,000 passports are being applied for daily, and every day, we are short on 5,000 passports,” he said.
Despite that, General Security will still be able to secure the required passports, Maj. Gen. Ibrahim affirmed.
This comes as Lebanon witnesses a wave of mass migration, caused by the economic crisis that has been significantly lowering the quality of life in the country for the past couple of years.
The August 4th Explosion of last year also contributed to the migration wave. Notably, Ibrahim also addressed the Beirut Port Explosion investigation in the interview.
“Anything that is asked of me in the investigation file regarding the August 4 Explosion, I am ready for it,” he said.
It’s worth mentioning that the security official himself has been targeted for questioning over the August 4th Blast by judicial investigator Judge Tarek Bitar, but his immunity continues to shield him from prosecution.
