Economic misery engulfs Syrian refugees and their hosts
In Lebanon, the capacity of the local community and Syrian refugees to provide mutual support being stretched to breaking point by economic turmoil and COVID-19 crisis.
Behind the counter of her small convenience store in a rundown neighborhood of Tripoli, northern Lebanon, 35-year-old Kawkab Mustafa keeps a list of debts owed to her by customers she has allowed to buy goods on credit. In recent months, the list has grown so long she needs four separate notebooks to record all the entries.
Kawkab and her clients, who include both Lebanese locals and Syrian refugees, were already feeling the pain of months of financial turmoil, accompanied by political protests, that has hamstrung Lebanon’s economy and pushed as much as 45 percent of the country’s population under the poverty line, according to the World Bank.
The arrival of COVID-19 and restrictions to contain its spread in March have brought further misery, leaving many unable to work and pushing them closer to the brink of destitution