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In times of crises, Lebanon’s elderly must fend for themselves

Many elderly people have been thrown into poverty by one of the world’s worst financial crises in the past 150 years.

Rafka Nassim, 71, left, meets with her daughter Claudette Rizk through a plastic barrier to avoid contracting the coronavirus at the Social Services Medical Association, a rehabilitation hospital and nursing home in the northern city of Tripoli. [Hassan Ammar/AP Photo]
Published On 23 Jun 2021

With virtually no national welfare system, Lebanon’s elderly are left to fend for themselves amid their country’s worsening economic catastrophe.

In their prime, they survived 15 years of civil war that started in 1975 and bouts of instability. Now in their later years, many have been thrown into poverty by one of the world’s worst financial crises in the past 150 years.

Lebanon has the greatest number of elderly in the Middle East – 10 percent of the population of six million is over 65. About 80 percent of Lebanese 65 or older have no retirement benefits or healthcare coverage, according to the United Nations’ International Labor Organization.

Family members and charities, traditionally the prime source of support, are struggling with increasing needs as unemployment rises.

Any dollar savings the elderly had from a lifetime of work are locked up in banks, inaccessible in the banking crisis. Savings lost nearly 90 percent of value as the local currency collapsed against the dollar. Imported medicine and basic goods are in jeopardy, and a once-reliable healthcare system is crumbling.

Over the past two years, more elderly have taken to the streets, searching through rubbish or begging, said Joe Taoutel, who runs Rafiq el-Darb, or Friends until the End.

Taoutel delivers home meals to more than 60 elderly families, up from five before the crisis.

“Those who used to give are now in need,” said Taoutel.

The government is struggling to provide for a population where now 55 percent live under the poverty line since the crisis began in late 2019.

As the economy falters, more young Lebanese are migrating, leaving behind ageing parents.

Lebanon is one of only 16 countries in the world with no pension scheme for private-sector workers. [Hassan Ammar/AP Photo]
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Marie Orfali, 76, left, and her husband Raymond in their apartment in Beirut. Orfali makes the trip five times a week to a nearby soup kitchen to fetch cooked meals for herself and her 84-year-old husband. [Hassan Ammar/AP Photo]
Orfali and Raymond share a moment in their apartment. Raymond worked for 26 years as an orderly at one of Beirut's hospitals, and Marie as a custodian at a university. [Hassan Ammar/AP Photo]
Suleiman Ali Yousef, an 81-year-old merchant, cries as he remembers his wife who died of the coronavirus at the Social Services Medical Association in the northern city of Tripoli. His wife managed the savings, and they lived well, never needing financial help from family. He only stopped working because of a stroke two years ago. Now half his savings are stuck in the bank. The other half is merchandise stored at a warehouse. He has no social insurance. "I never cost the state anything in my life. I worked and paid for everything," he said from his bed. "It must offer me a service. I am sick." [Hassan Ammar/AP Photo]
A nurse pushes an elderly woman in a wheelchair at the Social Services Medical Association. Lebanon has the greatest number of elderly in the Middle East - 10 percent of the population of six million is over 65. [Hassan Ammar/AP Photo]
A homeless Lebanese woman and her cat sleep on a bench as the sun rises over the Mediterranean Sea in Beirut. The government is struggling to provide for a population where now 55 percent live under the poverty line. [Hassan Ammar/AP Photo]
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A homeless Lebanese man sleeps on a refrigerator inside an old deserted house in Beirut. Over the past two years, more elderly have taken to the streets, searching through rubbish or begging. [Hassan Ammar/AP Photo]
People walk past an elderly homeless Lebanese man in Beirut. [Hassan Ammar/AP Photo]