Stranded Liberians relieved, cautious over ceasefire

After his own nation failed to evacuate him and his family during the recent Israeli bombardment of Lebanon, stranded Liberian Saide Chaar is still trying to find a way out of Beirut despite a United Nations-brokered ceasefire. “For now things are a little bit calm and we do not know how long it is going to last,” said Chaar, 25, in a telephone interview. “We are just praying to God that it stays as it is today.” IRIN documented the plight of Chaar and his family for two weeks through a daily diary. During that time, Chaar spoke of the family’s fear, food and water shortages, lack of money, being evicted and sharing a one-bedroom apartment with 22 other people. “I’m fighting very hard to leave Lebanon,” he said. “I have nothing left in the country, nothing at all. I don’t have any apartment. The place was totally bombarded.” Unlike Western countries that have been evacuating their nationals from Beirut, Liberia’s recently elected post-war government was unable to offer help to its citizens. About 50 Liberians and Lebanese-Liberians were estimated to be stranded in Beirut. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has been helping migrant workers, many of whom are African, to travel to Syria and then onward to their countries of origin. But Chaar says he fears returning to Liberia. “During the war in Liberia I had a problem with some people, some ex-combatants, and they threatened to harm me and my family because I pointed some of them out during the time of disarmament,” he said. If hostilities erupt again in Beirut, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said it could provide assistance if Chaar’s and his family’s situation deteriorates. “We will be able to help them in case they need shelter and we would be able to provide mattresses, blankets, kitchen sets, stoves,” said Daniel Alkhal, a senior protection officer with UNHCR in Beirut. If Chaar and his family are evicted from the apartment where they are currently staying, Alkhal said UNHCR could provide shelter in a public centre. “But even those are going to be scarce in the coming days. A big part of the Lebanese people are returning,” he said. In the meantime, Chaar said he has managed to earn a little money to buy food. “We go where they have some shops and we ask some guys that are loading trucks or putting things in the trucks and we ask if we can help them and they give us some money - five or ten dollars,” he said. “We are just like that, in the street, looking for a way to get through.” To read more about the plight of Saide Chaar and his family click here cs/ss