The UN envoy on extreme poverty Oliver De Schutter warned that Lebanon is on the verge of becoming a failed state and that “Lebanon is failing its people.”
The envoy declared in a conference in Beirut that “Lebanon is not a failed state yet, but it is a failing state, with a government failing its population. I saw scenes in Lebanon that I never imagined I would see in a middle-income country,”
This statement doesn’t seem surprising for the Lebanese people, who have been living in multiple crises wrecking their country.
Many middle-income families are suffering the deterioration of their financial situation. More than 75% of the population is under the poverty line, according to an earlier estimate by the United Nations.
“While the population is trying to survive day-to-day, the government wastes precious time,” De Schutter said.
“The government’s inaction in the face of this unprecedented crisis has inflicted great misery on the population”, he added.
Those conclusions coming from a UN envoy seem like a confirmation of Lebanon’s fragility and financial crash, although the country was once considered the “Switzerland of the Middle East”.
De Schutter recommends “immediate implementation of social protection programs held up for months, an increase of the minimum wage, and a wealth tax to combat world-leading inequality rates.”
He declared that Lebanon is a warning to the world on the outcomes of a very unhealthy alliance between very wealthy businessmen and political elites.
