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Denied access to government-run shelters, over 25,000 migrant workers displaced by Israel's bombardment in Lebanon face abandonment without transport, cash, or passports amid rising sectarian tensions, Mathieu Luciano, head of the International Organisation for Migration in Lebanon, told The National.
At least 200,000 migrants live in Lebanon, mostly from Ethiopia, Bangladesh, South Sudan and the Philippines. Many work for Lebanese families as child minders or domestic help. They are particularly vulnerable because the country's "kafala" employment system means their employers have no clear legal requirement to protect or care for them.
"It's always more complicated for migrants to seek safety. Those who are irregular, and without papers or documents are reluctant to seek assistance worrying they will be arrested or deported," Mr Luciano said.
“IOM estimates that approximately 25,000 migrants have been displaced by the conflict. The vast majority are in need of humanitarian support, including shelter, food, and protection assistance,” he said.
Some have been "evicted or denied access to government shelters" he added, causing them to seek "alternative solutions" in the form of emergency centres set up by local communities, such as the one operated by the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in Nabatieh in south Lebanon.
"On the first day of escalation, we tried to refer 70 people who had walked all night to get to us. We called every single government hotline, none of the shelters we spoke to were willing to take them," JRS programme director Michael Petro told The National.
A week later, the JRS finally got approval from a shelter in Tripoli saying it would accept dozens of East African migrant workers who had turned to the group for assistance. They were bussed in, transported and allowed in, Mr Petro said. But the good news was barely celebrated before reality took over.
"The next day, they were kicked out by local police and municipality workers," he said. "Even the welcomes were short-lived and difficult."
The IOM is recording and tracking incidents such as these and has established a redress mechanism with the Lebanese government, Mr Luciano explained. The UN organisation has also been co-ordinating commercial and charter planes to evacuate foreign workers who wish to return home, with priority being given to those in the most vulnerable situations, and who cannot afford a plane ticket.
The process is "difficult and challenging" and logistically complex, Mr Luciano said. With flights to and from Lebanon largely halted, the IOM has had to work with embassies to arrange charter flights.
"Up to 10,000 migrants require assistance, based on requests from embassies and the migrants themselves," the group said in a November report. Since the beginning of Israel's escalation of hostilities in Lebanon in September, the IOM has managed to help 400 migrants leave Lebanon - to Sierra Leone, Bangladesh and two coming flights to Ethiopia, Mr Luciano said.
With most official shelters now full in places where they are needed the most, Mr Petro says the need to give what little space remains to displaced Lebanese people is "understandable" but does not come from space issues alone.
"The base reality for migrants is racism. They face so much discrimination on a daily basis so even if it's prioritisation of Lebanese civilians by the government, it's often laid in with prejudice," he said.
Match info
Premier League
Manchester United 2 (Martial 30', Lingard 69')
Arsenal 2 (Mustafi 26', Rojo 68' OG)
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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WHAT IS GRAPHENE?
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
THE SPECS
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Transmission: 6-speed automatic
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Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
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Apple product price list
iPad Pro
11" - $799 (64GB)
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Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
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The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
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RESULTS
Catchweight 63.5kg: Shakriyor Juraev (UZB) beat Bahez Khoshnaw (IRQ). Round 3 TKO (body kick)
Lightweight: Nart Abida (JOR) beat Moussa Salih (MAR). Round 1 by rear naked choke
Catchweight 79kg: Laid Zerhouni (ALG) beat Ahmed Saeb (IRQ). Round 1 TKO (punches)
Catchweight 58kg: Omar Al Hussaini (UAE) beat Mohamed Sahabdeen (SLA) Round 1 rear naked choke
Flyweight: Lina Fayyad (JOR) beat Sophia Haddouche (ALG) Round 2 TKO (ground and pound)
Catchweight 80kg: Badreddine Diani (MAR) beat Sofiane Aïssaoui (ALG) Round 2 TKO
Flyweight: Sabriye Sengul (TUR) beat Mona Ftouhi (TUN). Unanimous decision
Middleweight: Kher Khalifa Eshoushan (LIB) beat Essa Basem (JOR). Round 1 rear naked choke
Heavyweight: Mohamed Jumaa (SUD) beat Hassen Rahat (MAR). Round 1 TKO (ground and pound)
Lightweight: Abdullah Mohammad Ali Musalim (UAE beat Omar Emad (EGY). Round 1 triangle choke
Catchweight 62kg: Ali Taleb (IRQ) beat Mohamed El Mesbahi (MAR). Round 2 KO
Catchweight 88kg: Mohamad Osseili (LEB) beat Samir Zaidi (COM). Unanimous decision
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5