Lebanon's government and its central bank have committed human rights offences by impoverishing people through the “callous destruction” of the country's economy, an independent United Nations report said on Wednesday.
Lebanon's economic implosion has caused the local currency lose more than 90 per cent of its value, food prices to rise elevenfold and forced more than three quarters of the population to live below the poverty line.
Throughout the three-year decline, the government and Central Bank have failed to secure the rights of Lebanese to social security, health care and an adequate standard of living, said the UN's special envoy on poverty, Olivier de Schutter.
He said the crisis had been “manufactured by failed government policies” and that even as the situation deteriorated, officials did not adopt reforms.
“They have a sense of impunity. That is extremely problematic,” Mr de Schutter told Reuters.
There was no immediate response by the Central Bank or the Lebanese government to requests for comment.
“The callous destruction of the Lebanese economy cannot be captured by statistics alone,” Mr de Schutter's report said, revealing that an entire generation had been condemned to destitution.
The report lamented a dearth of official Lebanese data on poverty and relied heavily on local and international non-governmental organisations.
At the end of a 12-day fact-finding mission in November, Mr de Schutter told Reuters that Lebanese government officials appeared to him to be “in a fantasy land”, detached from the difficulties facing most of the population.
He said on Wednesday that Lebanon's government had seen a draft of the final report before publication but had not challenged any of the allegations about rights offences.
“It is extremely difficult to find a way to get the government to take these messages seriously,” he said.
The World Bank had already described Lebanon's crisis one of the worst since the Industrial Revolution and said the country's elite were responsible for this “deliberate depression”.
Lebanon could obtain $3 billion in financing from the International Monetary Fund if it enacts eight major reforms.
Mr de Schutter said the IMF fund was Lebanon's “only hope”, if it could help to alleviate widespread poverty.
FIXTURES
Thu Mar 15 – West Indies v Afghanistan, UAE v Scotland
Fri Mar 16 – Ireland v Zimbabwe
Sun Mar 18 – Ireland v Scotland
Mon Mar 19 – West Indies v Zimbabwe
Tue Mar 20 – UAE v Afghanistan
Wed Mar 21 – West Indies v Scotland
Thu Mar 22 – UAE v Zimbabwe
Fri Mar 23 – Ireland v Afghanistan
The top two teams qualify for the World Cup
Classification matches
The top-placed side out of Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong or Nepal will be granted one-day international status. UAE and Scotland have already won ODI status, having qualified for the Super Six.
Thu Mar 15 – Netherlands v Hong Kong, PNG v Nepal
Sat Mar 17 – 7th-8th place playoff, 9th-10th place play-off
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Emirate: Sharjah – Khor Fakkan
Education: Master’s degree in special education, preparing for a PhD in philosophy.
Favourite activities: Bungee jumping
Favourite quote: “My people and I will not settle for anything less than first place” – Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.
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Torque: 175Nm
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67 - Dustin Johnson (USA), Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez (ESP), Lucas Herbert (AUS), Francesco Laporta (ITA), Joost Luiten (NED), Soren Kjeldsen (DEN), Marcus Kinhult (SWE)
68 - Alexander Bjork (SWE), Matthieu Pavon (FRA), Adrian Meronk (POL), David Howell (ENG), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (RSA), Fabrizio Zanotti (PAR), Sean Crocker (USA), Scott Hend (AUS), Justin Harding (RSA), Jazz Janewattananond (THA), Shubhankar Sharma (IND), Renato Paratore (ITA)
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MATCH INFO
Manchester City 2 (Mahrez 04', Ake 84')
Leicester City 5 (Vardy 37' pen, 54', 58' pen, Maddison 77', Tielemans 88' pen)
Man of the match: Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)
TALE OF THE TAPE
Floyd Mayweather
- Height
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Conor McGregor
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Results
Catchweight 60kg: Mohammed Al Katheeri (UAE) beat Mostafa El Hamy (EGY) TKO round 3
Light Heavyweight: Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) no contest Kevin Oumar (COM) Unintentional knee by Oumer
Catchweight 73kg: Yazid Chouchane (ALG) beat Ahmad Al Boussairy (KUW) Unanimous decision
Featherweight: Faris Khaleel Asha (JOR) beat Yousef Al Housani (UAE) TKO in round 2 through foot injury
Welterweight: Omar Hussein (JOR) beat Yassin Najid (MAR); Split decision
Middleweight: Yousri Belgaroui (TUN) beat Sallah Eddine Dekhissi (MAR); Round-1 TKO
Lightweight: Abdullah Mohammed Ali Musalim (UAE) beat Medhat Hussein (EGY); Triangle choke submission
Welterweight: Abdulla Al Bousheiri (KUW) beat Sofiane Oudina (ALG); Triangle choke Round-1
Lightweight: Mohammad Yahya (UAE) beat Saleem Al Bakri (JOR); Unanimous decision
Bantamweight: Ali Taleb (IRQ) beat Nawras Abzakh (JOR); TKO round-2
Catchweight 63kg: Rany Saadeh (PAL) beat Abdel Ali Hariri (MAR); Unanimous decision
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets