I've spent the summer in the states, and just got back to Beirut last week. Tonight was my first time really getting out of my neighborhood (Gemayze). Went with a friend downtown, then grabbed a burger at Burger King (My friend's choice, it kills me how popular American fast food is here), before riding over to the Corniche and Zeitounay Bay.
I left Beirut in June, and there were definitely plenty of Syrians here, but there are always quite a few in Beirut, and the only noticeable difference was the increase in Syrian children on the street. That's changed big time in the last two months. My heart-breaking dinner experience after the jump.
While eating at Burger King we grabbed a seat at the bar facing the window, so we could people watch. Burger King is on Bliss Street, next to AUB, so it's normally a pretty lively street in the evening.
But as soon as we set down and unwrapped our food, three Syrian boys approached the window and asked for money. That's not an entirely uncommon experience in Beirut, and while I don't always give money, I try to depending on the age of the kid and my gut feeling about him. But normally it happens as you are walking along the main roads, not while sitting and eating. I reflexively said no, before I even noticed that the youngest couldn't have been more than ten. The two older ones persisted for a few minutes, then left us alone for a bit. The youngest didn't. He stopped asking for money, and pointed at my fries and asked for some food. I thought about it, and was about to go buy him a sandwich, but then I noticed he was holding a milkshake from the Krispy Kreme next door, and I pointed at it and said no. I know, pretty asshole of me, but when you deal with people begging everyday, you really do have to draw the line and make judgement calls. Especially as an unemployed student living off stafford loans.
But I watched the three out the window, and they truly did seem to be mostly approaching people carrying food and asking for food, as opposed to money. Of course, I started to regret being an asshole once I realized this. One of the older approached the window again, and put his hands on his belly and looked at me. So I waved him in and gave him the rest of my fries.
He gobbled them up, without sharing. The only thing I had left was my sandwich. I didn't have enough money to buy another sandwich for the younger boy. My friend and I discussed if the boy would take my half-eaten sandwich, or if he'd be offended at the offer (it was literally half-eaten). My friend pointed out that if he was hungry, he'd take it. He took it, and ate it in two bites (A King Burger XXL, half of which is still about as much as a regular burger). Yeah, I misjudged them originally, they were truly hungry, not just trying to earn money (I'm not knocking refugees who are on the streets begging for money to feed their family, I just try to direct anything I give to children who desperately need the food right then).
Kind of heart-breaking, I'm very use to begging, but I don't think I've ever had children who were begging for my uneaten food before. It really brought the headlines ("Syrian refugees climb to 100,000") much closer to home for me.
I don't know what the solution is. I know some people on here are very anti-FSA. Most of my Lebanese friends are very anti-Assad. I don't claim to know what's better for Syria or the Syrian people. But I know that Lebanon can't feed another 50,000 Syrian refugees. I'm sure that Turkey can't, and Jordan is already straining under the number they have taken in. If things continue like they are, it's not going to be children begging in the street, it's going to be children starving in the street. Estimates here are as high as 1,000 people entering per day. If we can't find a solution to end the civil war in Syria, we need to be mobilizing to take care of the refugees, at a much greater pace than we are so far.