Retired ISF agents demonstrating in Baalbeck, January 10, 2022. (Credit: L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Retired members of the Internal Security Forces gathered on Monday across Lebanon to protest against the alleged refusal of hospitals to receive them and their families, L’Orient Today’s correspondent reports.
Here’s what we know:
• The sit-ins, which took place in front of several ISF care centers in the Bekaa and Baalbeck, come one day after a statement from the private hospital owners’ syndicate which warned against recent frequent refusals by hospitals to receive ISF members, due to the absence of assistance from the government.
• "Some of us require treatments for which we have to pay between LL3 and LL4 million, while we earn LL2 million," an officer said during a sit-in.
• LL2 million equaled nearly $1,300 before the economic crisis started to take shape in October 2019. The Lebanese lira however has been experiencing sharp depreciation against the dollars over the past two years, rendering a LL2 million salary worth about $65 today. The lira-to-dollar exchange rate on the parallel market currently stands at a record LL30,500.
• On Sunday, private hospitals called on the Lebanese authorities to "find the necessary funds” to cover the health care of ISF members before the situation gets "out of control." The Lebanese government reportedly owes hundreds of billions of Lebanese lira to hospitals for the hospitalization of security forces members.