Potato harvest in Marjeyoon proceed on the back of Syrian women and children

The southern plains of Marjeyoon, namely Ebl al Saqi, Khiam and Wazzani, swarms with displaced Syrian farmers from the Beqaa hired to help with the potato harvest season that has already started. According to Al Mustaqbal newspaper Syrian refugees from that area are forced to work with low wages to support their families and shield them from want and need. Um Ibrahim, from Raqqa, is now working the potato fields with her four daughters and her eldest son, in return for a modest daily wage of LBP 12 thousand each. She informed the newspaper that she has yet to receive aid from international relief organization. For her part, Hadeer Ahmad, a former music teacher in Syria, who today is working in the potato fields like countless others, does not mind this had labor, but laments the tragic situation in her country more than anything else. On the other hand, Michel Bash, a Lebanese farmer who contracts Syrians of all ages to work in Marjeyoon and Ebl al Saqi, stresses the vital importance of the Syrian workforce as a result of the endemic shortage of domestic labor in the area. Complaining about the challenges he is facing along with his fellow farmers, Bash referred to the recent export difficulties resulting from the closure of the land borders at Nassib Crossing. Among other threats to the development of the agriculture sector, is the illegal smuggling of potato from abroad as well as the recently introduced labor sponsorship system. (Al Mustaqbal, 10 July 2015)