Depositors belonging to various collectives demonstrate in front of Lebanon's Central Bank (BDL) headquarters in Beirut on April 4, 2024. (Credit: Wael Taleb/L'Orient Today)
Around 50 people demonstrated in front of Lebanon's Central Bank (BDL) headquarters in Beirut's Hamra district on Thursday morning, at the call of the Depositors' Union and the Mouttahidoun collective. They were protesting against the restrictive measures on bank deposits in place since 2019.
Some demonstrators carried nooses, calling for the punishment of those responsible for the banking crisis.
"We've come to demand our most basic rights, which are being trampled underfoot," Richard Abou Jaoudeh told L'Orient Today. "We have a duty to defend not just our deposits, but our rights as citizens," he continued, claiming to participate in every similar mobilization.
Josette Haddad, a member of a depositors' collective, is a bit more moderate in her views.
"I don't blame the banks. All they've done is manage the state's money. It's the state that's responsible," she said. "We don't want to kill them, steal from them or break into their homes. We just want our money back!"
Another protester warned that their "being here is a warning." He denounced the responsibility of BDL and its managers, who are "pulling the strings of this game" with deposits.
While some of the depositors who resorted to strong-arm tactics in 2022 to recover their savings are awaiting trial, the phenomenon has slowed sharply in the country over the past two years. A wave of bank robberies swept the country, during which depositors, sometimes armed, entered various bank branches throughout the country to demand the return of their own funds.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.