Bank employees call for added security after a series of bank holdups. (Credit: João Sousa/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT —Bank employees held a protest Wednesday in front of the Grand Serail in Beirut to call for improved safety measures following a series of bank holdups in which depositors — some armed — demanded access to their own savings.
Following the holdups, banks closed announced an indefinite closure last Friday.
Demonstrators carried signs that read “the banks’ employees' safety is a red line” and “thousands of families threatened by poverty if banks close their doors,” along with other slogans.
Employees said the state must protect them and that a restructuring of the banking system must not come at the cost of employees, many of whom are also depositors.
They also stated they would refuse to work under the pressure of threats. They warned that, if such work conditions persist, banks will remain closed.
In a statement, bank employees criticized Lebanese authorities for their approach to the country's financial downfall, saying that this failure "made the Lebanese lose their confidence in the banking sector."
The statement called on government authorities to "speed up the approbation of laws" that would solve the banking crisis.