A man shouts slogans as he stands near a fire set in front of a bank in Beirut, Lebanon, on July 28 during a demonstration by depositors who remain unable to withdraw their foreign-currency savings. Several bank facades were vandalized. Photo by Abbas Salman/EPA
BEIRUT, :Lebanon, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Bank depositors in Lebanon, who lost their lifetime savings in the country's worst financial collapse seven years ago, are neither giving up nor resigned to the possibility their savings may be beyond recovery.
They continue to reject years of empty promises, the absence of a credible and comprehensive financial recovery plan and the failure to hold those responsible for the financial disaster accountable, all of which have left them with little prospect of getting their money back.
After suspending their protests because of the Israel-Hezbollah war, a group of depositors returned to the streets last week, staging demonstrations, storming bank branches and setting fire to their entrances.
Although they numbered only about 200 -- a small fraction of the estimated 700,000 to 800,000 depositors -- they represented a broader movement of groups and associations formed after the 2019 financial collapse to defend depositors' rights, including those of the Lebanese diaspora.
