For the second week in a row, the Syrian refugee camps in the Lebanese border town of Arsal are experiencing a shortage of bread resulting from the reduction of flour allocations.
Zaman al-Wasl reporter said that the unprecedented bread crisis that the town’s bakeries are witnessing recently has eased its woes on the Syrian refugees and the residents of the host town alike, due to the lack of flour allocations officially approved for the town’s bakeries, and the reduction of its quantity to less than half.
The Activists Team in Arsal camps said in a Facebook post that the crisis that affected the loaf of bread in the Arsal camps caused chaos among the citizens (refugees and Lebanese), which made us move as activists to work to stave off sedition and prevent reactions, so we visited the director of “Al-Sammah bakeries” operating in Arsal.
He explained to us that the reason for the bread crisis is due to the reduction in the amount of flour allocated to the "Arsal" bakeries from 207 tons per month to only 95 tons, which caused a great crisis and pressure on the bakeries.
The number of Syrian families in the Arsal camps is estimated at about 12,100 families, corresponding to 10,000 Lebanese families residing in the town, a total of more than 100,000 people distributed among 60,000 Syrian refugees and 40,000 Lebanese, according to the activists’ team.
Zaman al-Wasl reporter noted that more than one Syrian refugee was beaten and physically assaulted, "including children and a woman", against the background of the quarrels that have recently taken place at the doors of the bakeries, which were caused by the great rush to get bread.
Lebanon is witnessing a stifling bread crisis, evidenced by the large increase in the number of queues in front of bakeries all over Lebanon.
The Minister of Economy and Trade in the Lebanese caretaker government, Amin Salam, confirmed that "the scene is unfortunate in the last week, knowing that the state sought to secure support and open credits, although we are in a country that is unable to support," he said.
He added, "We decided to continue subsidizing bread, because it is the last resort for citizens due to the high rate of poverty."
After meeting with a delegation of oven owners, Salam said, "The mill merchants had fears due to the scarcity of funds and the possibility of not securing them, and we will follow up with the Banque du Liban to open credits."
He added that "No one says let's lift subsidies, this decision is taken by the state in cooperation with ministers, not unions or gatherings, and today I cannot put Lebanon in danger in the shadow of a global wheat crisis."
Abdul Hafeez Al-Houlani
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