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The British nationals choosing to tough it out in Lebanon

IN BEIRUT “This is the worst it’s been since 2006,” says dual-national Robbie Farjallah, who is preferring to stay put for now.

Days after pagers and walkie-talkies exploded across Lebanon, killing at least 37 people and injuring nearly 3,000, UK nationals living in Lebanon are facing a tough choice; stay and weather a potential war or pack their lives into suitcases and flee.

On Thursday, the Foreign Secretary David Lammy reiterated his call for Brits to leave the country, as “the situation could deteriorate rapidly”. But many UK nationals who spoke to i remain hesitant to leave.

‘My head is not in the sand’

“Anybody who decides to live in Lebanon has to live in this reality,” says dual-national Azza Yehia, a 45-year-old venture capitalist. “I’m always operating on the assumption that any day now, shit will hit the fan.”

For Azza, one of the biggest challenges is how she will take care of her 72-year-old mother, who is not British.

“She doesn’t have a visa to go to any other country, so I’m sort of locked down here with her.”

Azza Yehia says she has to care for her mother and her head is not in the sand about life in Beirut
Women walk near men playing backgammon in Beirut, Lebanon September 20, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Men playing backgammon outdoors in Beirut on Friday (Photo: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)

When the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war broke out, Israel struck the country’s only commercial airport, limiting options for escaping. At the time, the UK evacuated many of its citizens on navy destroyers to Cyprus, while others either stayed or fled through neighbouring Syria.

More than 1,000 British military servicemen and women have reportedly been put on standby in case British nationals need to be evacuated again, but the Foreign Office has been steadfast in its calls that Brits should leave while they can.

‘I would feel like a refugee’

And yet, many here are reluctant to leave. Twenty-seven-year-old dual-national Robbie Farjallah, who works for the UK NGO Siren Associates, says his field work would be difficult to do remotely.

“This is probably the worst it’s been since 2006… I just feel like, you know, this is what we’re dealing with and just have to deal with it, basically.

Farjallah is also reluctant to leave behind his Lebanese girlfriend of 10 years, whom he expects will not be able to join him if he were to leave.

Smoke rises from Beirut southern suburbs, Lebanon September 20, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Smoke rises from Beirut after a bombardment by Israeli forces (Photo: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)

“We’ve examined several different options in terms of going without getting married, which would be quite difficult… Signing a bit of paperwork, having a priest there to do it the proper way in Lebanon, just to get the piece of paper that says we’re married and then take that to the British embassy and say, ‘hey, this is my partner, I’m not leaving without her’… But yeah, all of these things are not guarantees.”

The situation would need to deteriorate much more significantly before Farjallah says he would consider leaving.

“Even if it does maybe break out into an all-out war, like, similar to 2006, where sort of different targets were bombed, like bridges and electric plants and whatever… I think the thing that would push me over the edge in terms of leaving, would probably be things similar to Gaza, in terms of when people start getting attacked in places that you wouldn’t normally expect.”

Relative safety in the mountains and north

For others, like 75-year-old UK national Lydia Maamarbachi, who has lived in the country since 1970 and whose father was British, being located in Lebanon’s mountain regions offers relatively safety compared to other parts of the country.

“In 2006, I stuck it out. You know, we have a beautiful club. We would lie near the pool watching drones come along.”

“I feel so sorry for the villagers of the south… I mean, they’re pouring phosphorus onto their land, on to their olive groves. Horrible, horrible, horrible. But our life in Broumana hasn’t changed, really.”

Sixty-two-year-old dual-national Rima is also considering moving to Tripoli, in the north of the country, in the event of further escalation, as she did with her children and mother during the 2006 war.

“I can’t say that I have a fixed plan for what to do. [Back then], my mom was younger, we were younger, my kids were small. We used to work, the banks were open. And then the airport was closed.

“But preferably, if I have the chance to leave and take mom with me, I would leave and take her with me. She has a visa.”

Rima says the main thing keeping her in the country is how long she will have to stay abroad if she leaves.

“This thing can go on for another year, for another two years…. To go there and stay for, like, for good, how long will I stay? This is the main issue for me.”

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