The Lebanese embassy in Washington. Photo credit : Embassy of Lebanon in Washington D.C. Facebook page.
BEIRUT — Since December, Lebanese diplomats abroad have been receiving their incomes intermittently due to the lack of foreign currency in Lebanon.
However, the Ministry of Finance said in a public statement on Monday that the central bank has started paying diplomats their salaries — which have gone unpaid since May — following discussions with the Banque du Liban (BDL).
Lebanese diplomatic missions are nevertheless still facing many obstacles. Deprived for months of the funds to ensure the proper functioning of their embassies, they say they are now forced to finance themselves and fear that the crisis in Lebanon will further affect their work.
“Since December 2021, we have been receiving our salaries intermittently,” one senior diplomat told L’Orient-Le Jour on condition of anonymity, to protect their employment. Salaries meant for December “were paid in January, those of January and February in February, while those of March and April were only transferred on May 10, five days before the parliamentary elections,” the diplomat added.
The diplomatic corps had suspended its work on several occasions in the months leading to the May 15 parliamentary elections, to demand improved payment.
It was in this tense environment that the Ministry of Finance announced on Monday that “BDL has begun to transfer the salaries of the diplomatic corps abroad.” This development comes “following contacts made in recent days” between the caretaker Finance Minister Youssef Khalil and BDL Governor Riad Salameh, to transfer these amounts in dollars.
‘Lack of currency’
Before Monday’s decision, salaries were calculated on the basis of several international currencies — including the dollar, the yen, the euro and the Swiss franc — and then paid to diplomats in dollars. It is still unclear whether calculating the payments only in dollars will now result in higher or lower salaries, the diplomat explained.
“The May salaries were paid in July, before the summer vacations, and since then we have not received anything,” he said. “Following the decision of the Ministry of Finance, it is June’s salaries that will be paid to us, but we do not know what will happen to those for July and August,” he added. He said he had yet to receive such payments.
A source in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told L’Orient-Le Jour that “the necessary payments have been made.” She said that the delays in payments are due to “the lack of [foreign] currency” available to the Treasury.
‘Lack of empathy’
The diplomat who spoke with L’Orient-Le Jour lamented the “lack of official support” and “lack of empathy” from Lebanese officials, as well as a “lack of organization.” He said that the diplomats “do not have insurance or assistance regarding medical expenses and schooling.”
“The salaries of all diplomats will be reduced by 30 percent, but those posted in the Gulf countries will continue to benefit from an increase of 25 percent to their income,” the diplomat added.
The pitfalls do not stop there. Since January, Lebanese diplomats abroad say they have not received funding for the maintenance and proper functioning of diplomatic missions.
“We have been forced to finance ourselves, for example by increasing the costs of certain formalities,” the diplomat source said. “Since May, we have not stopped working and have helped Lebanese abroad to complete their papers so that they can spend their vacations in Lebanon.” Some diplomatic missions have reportedly reorganized their logistics in order to cut costs, he said. “We don't want the crisis at home to be reflected where we work.”
This article was originally published in French at L’Orient-Le Jour.
