A Syrian refugee in Lebanon lit himself on fire outside his house over the increasingly desperate economic situation in the country, one that many have found themselves struggling to cope with.
A disturbing video of the incident that circulated widely on social media showed Bassam al-Hallak, fully aflame, walking slowly across a field in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley as another man ran after him carrying jugs of water.
Bassam, a Syrian refugee from the Damascus suburb of Darayya who was living in the town of Taalbaya in Lebanon, died of third-degree burn wounds after being transported to Bekaa Hospital, the state’s National News Agency reported Sunday.
Hallak’s 27-year-old son, Issam al-Hallak, who was at the hospital Monday waiting to get his father’s body so he could be buried, told Al Arabiya English that his father, a carpenter by trade, had been out of work for two years.
“He had gotten depressed because of the situation – the living situation was very difficult, and he was feeling worn out and depressed because of it,” Issam said. Still, he said Bassam had not spoken of any plans to harm himself and that his father’s death had come as “a great shock.”
A UN assessment conducted in April and May of 2019 found that 73 percent of Syrian refugees in Lebanon were living in poverty, up from 69 percent the year before. The situation has since been exacerbated by the loss of jobs and price inflation due to the economic crisis, and, more recently, due to the lockdown imposed to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
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