As foreigners evacuate, Lebanese fear situation will get worse

Published: 2006-07-20

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Knowing that foreigners are evacuating Lebanon has had a "very bad psychological impact" for displaced Lebanese families who are crowded in schools with diminishing supplies, said a church aid worker. "Everyone says, 'If they are fleeing the country, then something very bad is going to happen,'" said Issam Bishara, Catholic Near East Welfare Association's regional director based in Beirut, Lebanon. Bishara spoke with Catholic News Service July 20 from his home in Beirut. Bishara said there are only two ways out of Lebanon -- through Syria and the Mediterranean Sea -- and "the only thing that is going out is ships with foreign citizens." The Lebanese are asking, "Why are they in a hurry?" said Bishara. "You get this feeling of despair."

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