Former student of Saint-Joseph University in Beirut and Paris II-Assas University, Samir Ayoub, Franco-Lebanese, is a professor of management sciences and director of the Aix en Provence campus of
ESSCA School of Management .
I have just returned from the land of the Cedars, and the observation is overwhelming: Lebanon is gradually emptying of its youth.
Struck by a multidimensional crisis, the country has become a cemetery for young people in search of opportunities and a better future.
Obviously, this phenomenon of emigration in order to study or work is nothing new in Lebanon.
However, the current hemorrhage goes well beyond the traditional trend.
We must leave the country and as quickly as possible: for students and young workers, it has become more than an obsession, it is now a question of survival.
A look back at history allows us to better understand the current movement.
Indeed, openness to the world, the discovery of other cultures, international exchanges are values that are part of the DNA of the Lebanese people.
Historically, the youth emigration movement began during the two world wars until the 1950s, in the direction of Latin American countries.
It is also there that the largest diaspora is today.
In the 1960s, Australia, in massive search for foreign labour, opened its doors wide to young Lebanese.
From the 70s and in order to flee the civil war, the waves of emigration increased and the Lebanese left all over the world.
France, Germany or the United States were popular destinations for further studies after a first degree in Lebanon.
Opportunities for work were also plentiful.
Trained in Lebanese universities, known to have the best level in the Middle East, the freshly graduated students, who are very often trilingual, were spoiled for choice.
The fast-growing Gulf countries were a sought-after destination, which offered high salaries while having a geographical proximity to Lebanon.
Then came sub-Saharan Africa or Canada.
The road to exile is therefore known to all.
There is not a single family in Lebanon that does not have a member settled abroad.
Being no longer or poorly paid (the Lebanese pound has lost 90% of its value), it is the most qualified and brilliant doctors, lawyers, engineers and university professors who are gradually leaving Lebanon in search of a decent future.
Samir Ayoub
But since 2019, and the emergence of the economic crisis, the phenomenon has dangerously accelerated and widened to affect not only students and young graduates, but also young workers and young parents.
Being no longer or poorly paid (remember that the Lebanese pound has lost 90% of its value), it is the most qualified and brilliant doctors, lawyers, engineers and university professors who are gradually leaving Lebanon in search of a decent future.
Most of the aforementioned countries have certainly lost their attractiveness due to the recent crises, but regardless of the destination, the main thing is to leave in order to avoid unemployment, the lack of subsidies, the daily humiliation of a life of "survival".
Some young people leave Lebanon to work for less than 1,000 euros a month in the Gulf countries or in sub-Saharan Africa, the employers of these countries having adapted the wage offer to the demand.
According to estimates communicated by General Security, more than 100,000 people left Lebanon for good in 2021, a record since the civil war.
To date, the entire Lebanese population is prevented from withdrawing their savings from the banks because of the economic crisis.
This state of affairs causes families to be unable to pay private universities, not for lack of means but for lack of cash.
Samir Ayoub
Let us recall that to this day, the entire Lebanese population is prevented from withdrawing their savings from the banks because of the economic crisis.
This state of affairs causes families to be unable to pay private universities, not for lack of means but for lack of cash.
Consequently, for young people, the pursuit of studies in a country whose universities are paying, such as the United States or Australia, has become an inaccessible luxury.
France, known for the excellence and the freeness of its universities, is therefore now the favorite destination for young Lebanese: French-speakers naturally, but also English-speakers who start to revise French to pass the tests necessary for obtaining visas.
According to statistics provided by Campus France, the number of Lebanese students arriving to study in France has increased from 5,500 in 2017-2018 before the crisis to more than 8,000 students in 2020-2021.
To accommodate them, several aid systems have been put in place.
Universities such as Paris-Saclay or Aix-Marseille have, for example, decided to exempt Lebanese students from registration fees in 2020-2021 and then in 2021-2022.
Also, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has set up a new scholarship program called Maa'kum ("with you") to support the most deserving students.
Finally, solidarity has been set up between students in France and students in Lebanon through social networks like the Facebook account AULF (association of Lebanese academics in France) which has several tens of thousands of subscribers.
Young Lebanese [admitted to our country] are aware of the chance that France offers them to access high-level studies and professionalization, dropping out or unemployment are in no way an option for them.
Samir Ayoub
In France, young Lebanese tend to fully embrace French habits and customs, while remaining very attached to their roots.
They are aware of the chance that France offers them to access high-level studies and professionalization, dropping out or unemployment are in no way an option for them.
A full integration for the sole objective: to demonstrate resilience in all circumstances, to access the best positions in large companies and to contribute to maintaining the friendly ties between the two countries while preserving the interests of France, with regard to the geopolitical and commercial role. what Lebanon plays in the region.
For these young people, the sole ambition is to become the pride and support of the family who stayed behind.
Indeed, in a country where the social position of a family is largely measured by the academic and professional success of the children, the latter tend to use the education card to the end.
Thus, there is no question of stopping at a master's 2, pursuing a doctorate is an almost inevitable path.
According to Campus France, while Lebanon is only the 10th country of origin of foreign students in France, it ranks 2nd at the doctoral level at the university with 35% of the total number of students enrolled.
This growing trend is far from an optimal situation for Lebanon.
It will inevitably delay the recovery of the country, cruelly deprived of its human capital.
Samir Ayoub
This growing trend is far from an optimal situation for Lebanon.
It will inevitably delay the recovery of the country, which is thus cruelly deprived of its human capital.
For now, we have to be realistic.
And consider that it is largely thanks to the financial aid sent by this diaspora, that so many families on the spot manage somehow to make ends meet.
For now, nothing can stop this brain drain.
Not even the advertised twelve-month wait to obtain a passport.
Only serious reforms and a renewed climate of trust could allow future generations to imagine remaining and fully blossoming in Lebanon.
Specialists estimate that such a serene horizon will not dawn in the land of the Cedars for a good ten years.
