After sitting in an airplane for a total of 10 hours with a two hour transit in Paris, I can say that the ride here was dreadfully long. However, I managed to survive and I am finally in Lebanon.

On my home, we experienced the typical dose of traffic on the Ring intersection, an area that use to divide East and West Beirut during the period of the civil war. Amidst the traffic, I met a young boy named Ibrahim.

Ibrahim and his buddies were begging for money. They approached most of the cars stuck in traffic and pleaded for pennies. I was not quick enough to film one of Ibrahim’s friends chasing a car by running in parallel and up-close to its windows. However, I did manage to attract Ibrahim to my car window.

I gave him 1000 LL, which is the rough equivalent of 1 Canadian dollar, and asked if I could take his picture. He refused at first, but we attempted to obtain answer as to why he was frightened and refused to have his picture taken. Ibrahim thought we would report him to the Darak, which is the informal title of the Lebanese Internal Security Forces, and get him in a lot of trouble. We obviously stated that this was not the case and he then allowed me to take his picture:

So, who are these kids? They are the children of poor foreigners in Lebanon. Specifically, they are either Palestinian or Syrian. I know that the Darak routinely harasses these kids and often physically abuse them while trying to detain them. For example, a few years ago, when my twin brother and I were still in Lebanon, we often witnessed the Darak on Bliss Street attempting to capture and detain these children.

They chased after them and were vicious. They physically abused these kids. Once they were caught, the physical abuse on behalf of the Darak was directly proportional to the strength of the child’s resistance. From our observations, these kids were often beaten-up, which involves punching, kicking slapping, and utter humiliation for these kids.

On one occasion, we tried to intervene on the children’s behalf while the Darak were loading them into the back of a jeep like sheep. We requested that the Darakeh take it easy on the kids, since he was literally slapping and punching the poor kid who was now screaming and crying. We were met with threats of the same treatment if we were to interfere in any way….

Why were the Darak detaining these kids who were begging on the streets? Well, my best guess is that given the commercial locations these kids beg in, the owners of the businesses may have complained about their presence, since the presence of these kids may have reduced their profits or customers, since they often hang out in front of their shops or restaurants to haggle the customers for their change.

Well, whatever the reason the Darak may have for detaining these kids, they do not have the right to physically abuse them. Plus, it is equally important to note that these children are obviously minors who should not be on the streets begging, but in school or somewhere safe! In the Western World, It would be a arare site to see a child begging on the street. In conclusion, these children are part of Lebanon’s social problems, which will be the subject of a future entry.