The 55 Belgians who left Lebanon in a military plane chartered by the Netherlands returned to Belgium this Friday evening around 11:30 p.m. They arrived at the Neder-Over-Heembeek military hospital. A second flight, again in collaboration with the Netherlands, is organized this Saturday.
The 55 Belgians were expected around 10 p.m. in Brussels, but the Dutch plane repatriating them was an hour behind schedule. On site, we met several of these people from Lebanon. Hania is Belgian, she has lived in the Middle East for a year and is “super reassured“to have been able to return:”I thank the government for intervening so quickly. We were contacted the day before yesterday and here we are.“Our interlocutor still hopes to return to Lebanon as soon as possible.
Meriem is moved to tears. This Belgian, who has lived in Lebanon for 15 years, is “relieved to be there, but sad for those who had to stay. It’s hard“. She calls on the international community to intervene to calm the situation in the region: “This has to stop, everything is razed there. It’s not normal to massacre people like that. (…) Each time, we tell ourselves that it will stop and no, it continues even more. We have family there who couldn’t come.”
Fadi is there to pick up his in-laws. If he is happy for them, he is also worried about his family back in Lebanon: “My parents are Lebanese, they cannot come. I’m in shock.”
Fayçal, for his part, was able to obtain Belgian passports for his children who were waiting for him: “My family was there, and when they explained to me what was happening, I couldn’t sleep. This simple plane noise is synonymous with death for us. It’s not like here where we’re safe“.
“We hope that things will calm down as soon as possible so that we can go back, especially for the children. For the moment, they are enrolled in high school in Lebanon and they will resume on Monday, remotely“, testifies another national.
The majority of repatriated Belgians returned home or to relatives. Four people who had no accommodation in Belgium were taken care of by the Red Cross.
“A second flight” planned
“As soon as the government agreed, I launched steps to allow Belgians who wished to leave Lebanon quickly.“, underlined the resigning Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hadja Lahbib, present at the Neder-Over-Heembeek military hospital to welcome the repatriated Belgians this Friday.
“These are Belgians who have lived in Lebanon for a long time, but who remain Belgians“, she added. The minister declared that a “second flight” was planned for this Saturday, thanking the Dutch authorities for “the excellent cooperation“. According to the latest information, a plane left Eindhoven around 9 a.m. this morning to repatriate civilians.
Around fifty nationals would be affected by the second flight. Some 1,800 Belgians are currently in Lebanon. “Currently, around 200 of them have indicated that they wish to leave Lebanon in a more or less rapid period of time“, continued the minister.
“So there is no massive demand to leave the country and we still remain in phase 1 of our plan. Depending on demand, we will mobilize other means to quickly bring our compatriots back to Belgium. (…) We remain in contact with the Belgians on site, who have difficulty leaving, but who want to leave the country, and we will accompany them until their return“, she finally assured.
Lebanon Conflict in the Middle East Belgians repatriation
