The people of the country are 'robbering' the banks in the economic crisis reports Al Jazeera

What is behind these 'bank robberies'?

Since 2019, the economic recession has started in Lebanon. The economic crisis has pushed nearly 80 percent of the country's total population (approximately 3 million) below the poverty line. This information is from the United Nations. Poverty and unemployment are increasing day by day in the country along with the economic woes. Naturally, the savings of the middle class people in the country has decreased.

Immediately after the start of the economic recession, that is, from 2019, the Lebanese government gradually imposed strict controls on people's savings. In effect, millions of customers lost their foreign currency savings.

Zeina Khodor is a customer of a bank. "Every time you go to withdraw money, you will be paid less than the market value," he told Al-Jazeera. Taking an example, he said, 'Suppose, you withdraw 700 dollars. But they (bank) will give you 200 dollars as 700 dollars. This is a big drop in money.

How many 'bank robberies' so far

In Lebanon this year,'first case of robbing and withdrawing money from a bank was reported last January. Unable to withdraw foreign currency deposited in his account, a man armed with a gun entered a bank in the eastern part of the country and held a dozen people hostage.

According to local media reports, after this incident, the man was handed over to the law enforcement forces with some of the money he had saved.

Meanwhile, last month, an armed man entered a bank in the capital Beirut and took staff and customers hostage. Earlier, he was told by the bank that it is not possible to pay the two lakh dollars that he wants to withdraw from his account for his father's treatment. Interestingly, when the robbery was taking place, people gathered outside the bank were shouting in support of the person involved in the robbery.

Last Wednesday, another armed man entered a Bankmed branch in the Lebanese mountain town of Al and tried to withdraw his deposit. On the same day, a woman named Sali Hafiz entered the BLOM Bank branch in Beirut with a gun. A few others were with him. He committed this crime to withdraw money from his bank account to meet the medical expenses of his sister suffering from cancer.

Sali Hafeez, however, later said that he entered the bank with a toy gun. Entering the bank, he first spilled petrol. He threatened to set fire to the bank if he could not pay the deposited money. Later Sali was able to withdraw 13 thousand dollars from the 20 thousand dollars deposited.

Whether part of an organized movement or not

The man who attacked the bank in Sali Hafiz and Ale is said to be a member of a group called 'Depositors Outcry'. The founder of this group is Ala Kasutid. He told Al-Jazeera that people have no other option but to attack banks like this. The current desperate situation has forced them to do this.

Kasutid further said, these people have worked for decades. They did not work to build the palaces of the rulers. But now they cannot buy a bottle of medicine. Throwing anger at the rulers, he said, this cannot be a government. They have no economic recovery plan. There is little foreign exchange reserves in the country at the moment.

How obvious is the crisis?

Since the beginning of the economic crisis, losses in Lebanon's financial sector have ranged from $6.8 billion to $6.9 billion. This account belongs to the country's government. On the other hand, the World Bank has warned that Lebanon's economic crisis is becoming serious day by day. This situation may be one of the three worst crises that the world has seen since the mid-19th century.

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