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BEIRUT, (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's economic and financial crisis have gravely impacted the fashion, jewelry and art industry in the country, said exhibitors at Luxuria, a Beirut luxury fair. "We saw a drop of 50 percent, if not more, on our products in the local market since the beginning of the crisis in 2019," said Eman Tawil, owner of Diamantia, a fine jewelry store. To bridge the sales gap, Tawil had to extend her business to other regional countries like Egypt, and more established markets like Canada and Gulf countries through her online website.

The fair runs from Friday to Monday at Phoenicia, a five-star hotel in Beirut, showcasing the finest collections of jewelry, art, and fashion with the participation of over 40 exhibitors. "We chose to kick off our fair during Eid al-Fitr, when Lebanon attracts high numbers of foreign visitors, which may help the recovery of the luxury market," Houssam Mokahal, manager at M&O, the organizer of Luxuria, told Xinhua. "This exhibition is a great occasion for our business to attract clients amid the current crisis," said Lucie Dekermendjian Helou, owner of Lucie By Luka Jewelry. "We are seeing only some demand on low-budget items nowadays," she said, adding that only a handful of foreign customers could purchase items priced at over 2,000 U.S. dollars. Helou said she opened a workshop six months ago despite the crisis, in the belief that the market would recover as many Lebanese affected by the financial crisis tend to hold hard currencies or invest in jewelry rather than leaving cash in their current accounts.

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by AFP -- BEIRUT: Lebanon has deported dozens of Syrians back to the war-torn country they fled from as anti-Syrian sentiment grows amid a dire economic crisis, security officials and a humanitarian source said Friday. One of the Syrians deported was an army defector, a relative said, warning that “his life is in danger.” “The army has deported more than 50 Syrians from Lebanon in the past two weeks,” an army official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the press. Another security official said dozens of Syrians had been expelled. They said Lebanon’s army intelligence unit had been cracking down on undocumented Syrians, arresting them and handing them to border guards, who then expelled them from Lebanon.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians fled to neighboring Lebanon after the country’s civil war began in 2011 with the brutal suppression of anti-regime protests. Authorities say Lebanon hosts around two million Syrian refugees, while nearly 830,000 are registered with the United Nations. Lebanese authorities have long pushed for Syrian refugees to return, and have made several repatriation efforts they describe as voluntary, but which rights groups say are forced.