Lebanese turn once again to Cyprus haven

Lebanese turn once again to Cyprus haven

LARNACA: Just as during the 1975-1990 civil war that ravaged their country, hundreds of Lebanese families are turning to neighboring Cyprus to escape the miseries of everyday life back home. Short-haul flights from Beirut to Larnaca, barely a 25-minute hop away, have been busy for months ferrying in Lebanese for whom their crisis-hit country with its dire shortages has become unlivable.

“I’ve had to leave my country and my parents to try to secure a future for my children,” said Nanor Abachian, 30, emerging from the airport on the island’s south coast with her husband, their two children and seven heavy suitcases. They leave behind a bankrupt country where daily 22-hour power cuts have become the norm and shortages have hit daily necessities, from fuel and gas to medicine and bread.

Since the start of the crisis in 2019, several thousand Lebanese have emigrated, many of them to Cyprus. There is no official data on numbers, especially as many Lebanese hold second passports. Lebanon’s ambassador to Cyprus, Claude El-Hajal, said the number of families resettled on the island has seen “a significant increase” especially since the devastating Aug 4, 2020 explosion in Beirut’s port that killed over 200 people.

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