Sunday, September 6, 2015

Will Expats Boycott the Lebanese Government?

Over the past few weeks, scenes broadcast from Lebanon have reached the far corners of the globe. Lebanese expats from Australia to Argentina have seen the waste management calamity in Lebanon and protesters demanding accountability while the government offers no response or solution—only tightening security measures. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the expats are indeed concerned if not alarmed by the situation. So much so, that many of them launched their own protests in London, Paris, New York, Boston, Washington, and other global cities expressing their frustration at the government’s mishandling of the crisis. Why are the Expats so incensed? Who are they supporting? And what are they beginning to call for?

To begin with, one has to keep in mind that the Lebanese expats in themselves are not uniform. They represent different regions and backgrounds in Lebanon, diverse points of view, varying levels of education, and disparate attachments to the homeland. And yet, they do indelibly share one common trait; and that is their exile from their homeland. Generally, their departure was linked to opportunity, which implicitly was absent in Lebanon, and had to be sought elsewhere. For opportunity to be lacking within the context of Lebanon, essentially means that in all likelihood the expat was not part of the patron political system that would have offered a slice of the country’s spoils. Meaning, most expats never received benefits from the incumbent system. Instead not unlike many citizens in Lebanon, expats have had to pay a heavy price, leaving behind their lives, homes, friends, and loved ones.

But why would expats even care; after all, the crisis may be thousands of kilometers away and does not affect them in their daily lives? They are exasperated for two reasons. First, they know that the political system and elite responsible for the current crisis is the very same one behind their own exile. In fact, most of the people in power now have been there since the 1980’s, with minor exceptions. Second, expats have come to the sad realization that the slow dismemberment of the Lebanese state by this ruling elite now poses an existential threat to their own dreams of ever returning to a viable homeland. It is one thing for some public official to get a policy or another wrong and of little consequence. It is of an entirely different dimension altogether to see the slow but sure crumbling of a country to which one hopes to return one day by an intransigent system controlled by an elite few.

And so the question of who expats support is one not difficult to answer. They are naturally against the incumbent political class; and they are for those who are calling for change and for solutions to real problems. To Lebanese expats who live in free societies with basic citizen rights, it has become incomprehensible to see fellow countrymen’s rights being abused back in the homeland—be it the right to live in a clean and healthy environment, the right to hold public officials accountable, the right to ask for government transparency, or the right to vote. These are basic demands that expats have grown accustomed to in North and South America, Europe, Australia—even parts of Asia and Africa. To see them denied back home now, means they will continue being denied to expats upon their eventual return; and this is unacceptable.

So what are the expats beginning to call for? They are calling for the return of basic rights to all Lebanese citizens, which would provide for a responsive and accountable government, meeting the people’s needs. This means having rights that provide for a healthy, prosperous, and happy life, with opportunities, social justice and security. Expats believe anything less than that, would mean perpetuating the existing corrupt system and cause more national pain, which would destroy their dream of returning one day. Perhaps this explains why some Lebanese expats are beginning to call for a boycott of the Lebanese government, through a halt of investments and repatriation of funds (which is backbone of the national economy); while others are threatening that if the government does not hold accountable the ministers of environment and interior for the mishandling of the crisis and rather remains intransigent; they are even ready to relinquish their Lebanese citizenship altogether. In the current sad state of the nation, expats really would have little to lose. To Lebanon, however, whose livelihood depends so much on expat remittances, the cost may prove to be immeasurable.