Tuesday August 4, 2020 will remain engraved in the memory of Steve Père. That day, the explosion of a hangar where tons of ammonium nitrate were stored ravaged Beirut, killing at least 177 people and injuring 6,500. The Compiègne winger (Fed. 3), born to a French father and a Franco-Lebanese mother, still has a large part of his family living in or near the capital. On vacation in Albania, he immediately heard from his relatives, relatively spared by the tragedy.
"My family members mostly suffered minor material damage," sighs the 29-year-old. My mother, who lives 20 km north, felt the shake, heard the noise and saw the smoke. On the other hand, my best friend, who lives 1 km from the site of the explosion, had his house destroyed and a wall fell on his sister, who had her arm broken. "
"I know that over there, when you don't have a house, nobody can help you"
Very quickly, fear gave way to fear for the Compiégnois. If he does not have Lebanese nationality, he has indeed lived almost all of his existence in this Middle Eastern State. The native of Angers (Maine-et-Loire) settled with his family, in the suburbs of Beirut, when he was less than a year old, and only returned to France in the month last November. “Given the severity of the explosion, I was shocked, but also very sad,” he says. I know that there, when you don't have a home, nobody can help you. I was like in mourning. I am necessarily united with the victims. "
A country plagued by vast social movements
As the holder of a residence permit, he has also been selected ten times since 2015 within the Lebanese national team. "I am proud to represent Lebanon, it is where my body calls me all the time, assures Father, whose speech is sometimes punctuated by words of English. This is the country that adopted me. This country, he nevertheless had to leave last year, almost constrained and forced, in particular because of the difficult living conditions. "Lebanon is beautiful, you can go on vacation, but the economic situation has deteriorated," he regrets. I don't think I will go back to live there. There are water and electricity cuts, and we don't feel any help from the government. "
"Politicians have been corrupt for over 30 years"
If the demonstrations have resumed since the explosion, because many Beirutis found themselves homeless, the country has been plagued by vast social movements since October 2019. A wave of protest that led to the resignation of the President of the Council of Ministers, Saad Hariri, and his government. “The crisis has led to a drop in consumption and an increase in poverty, blows the winger. You need to earn a lot of money to have a little bit, sometimes you have to have several jobs. In Lebanon, people survive more than they live. The Covid and the explosion obviously made matters worse. "
Like many Lebanese, Steve Père believes that the country's leaders have a large share of responsibility in the current period of instability. “The government is centered on itself, not on people, the rugby player is alarmed. Politicians have been corrupt for over 30 years. They act like tribal leaders. The Lebanese have suffered for too long, and no longer want this system. Things must change… ”