Army, Achrafieh Residents Defend Attack Against Migrant Workers

The Lebanese Army has issued a statement defending its raid and attack on domestic migrant workers in Achrafieh last Sunday. According to Human Rights Watch in Lebanon, at least 72 male migrant workers were severely beaten during the raid, which lasted several hours.

In its statement, the army claimed it received several complaints from the surrounding neighborhoods that the workers were displaying “public immorality” by swearing, stealing, and harassing the Lebanese.

Meanwhile, some Achrafieh residents are throwing their support behind the army after the incident. According to a report in NOW Lebanon, the Mukhtars of the East Beirut neighborhood also released a statement calling on the Lebanese army to “continue with the work it had started, away from the interference of the media, in order to put an end to the acts of harassment, rape, murder and theft endured by the residents and which are being committed by the thousands of foreign workers.”

As an Achrafieh resident, this disgusts me.

Update:
A group of concerned citizens and activists have created an online petition urging the Lebanese judiciary to investigate the incident. Show your support, sign it.