European Central: Cyprus, A Place of Refuge For Lebanese
AMANDA MOUAWAD
The world tuned into Afghanistan and witnessed the Taliban seize power of the country once again. Many countries have been concerned about large scale migration as a result, but there is already significant emigration occurring from another middle eastern country. Thousands of Lebanese have been moving to Cyprus. Flights to Cyprus are only 25 minutes long and it helps migrants escape the ongoing crisis in Lebanon. You may remember in horror the explosion that took place in Lebanon in August of 2019 from the wedding video that captured the blast, but the country has continued to suffer. The blast claimed at a minimum 160 lives and injured 6,000 other people. In 2019 less than 30 percent of the country lived under the poverty line, yet now 78 percent of Lebanese live in poverty. 300,000 Lebanese became homeless as a result of the blast which additionally caused 10-15 billion dollars worth of damage.
Besides being close geographically, Cyprus is a strategic choice for Lebanese for other reasons. Lebanese citizens paid in US dollars can easily receive bank loans making it easter to relocate. This makes it harder for those paid in the Lebanese Pound, however the banks understandably do not accept salaries paid in the Lebanese pound due to the very unstable nature of the currency currently. The currency is frequently declining in value making it difficult for those still living in Lebanon even to pay for the most essential of goods and services such as food and going to the doctor. Prices change frequently as the value decreases, making it difficult for Cyprus banks to assess the value of a Lebanese Citizen's salary if the Lebanese Pound is constantly losing value. As it is, the Pound at one point lost over 90% of the value it had in September of 2019 and only recently started to regain value after a government was formed in Lebanon.
The increase in value for the Lebanese Pound makes sense as Lebanon's economic crisis was made worse by the political crisis which lasted for 13 months. The remainder of the previous government resigned in April of 2020 after three ministers already resigned. This is only 6 months after the previous government resigned after protests following the explosion in the port in August of 2019. Unfortunately for Lebanon corruption has been an issue since the end of the civil war and people did not have confidence that there was anyone who could step up and lead the government out of the economic crisis. This political stalemate has also resulted in a lack of foreign aid to help rebuild since political stability and economic reforms are requirements in order to receive the aid.
Unfortunately for Lebanese who are not already paid in US dollars, it is difficult to convert their savings from the Lebanese Pound into dollars. Lebanon never had this problem previously due to remittances from Abroad sent to the country along with direct foreign investments. Both of these have declined in recent years making it harder to buy Us dollars.
In Nicosia, families also may send their children to a school that may have a similar curriculum to back home. For Lebanese families who sent their children to French speaking schools, the French-Cypriot school in the capital of Cyprus may be an easy transition for their children.
Cyprus has also seen migration from Lebanon before in recent history. During the Civil war, 100,000 Lebanese citizens fled to Cyprus to escape the violence. The majority of Lebanese who migrated to Cyprus during the Civil war returned back to Lebanon when the war ended and the country began to stabilize. Before this however, the first recorded instance of Lebanese migration to Cyprus was in the 13th century. More evidence of previous migration to Cyprus is in the genetics of modern-day Cypriots. Cypriots genetics have a very close genetic affinity to Lebanese.
Sadly for the Maronite Cypriots originally from Lebanon, the political divide of Cyprus between Greek and Turkish Cypriots has damaged the original communities which migrated centuries ago. Over the centuries Maronite Cypriot traditions were preserved in villages, but this changed as 80 percent moved to Greek Cyprus when the island was partitioned. Among those who stayed in their original villages, many of their children have left for Greek Cyprus due to more opportunities. This leaves the future of Maronite Cypriot traditions in peril of being lost forever. Among these traditions is a unique dialect of Arabic heavily influenced by Aramaic, the language Jesus Christ spoke.
