34% of Lebanese youth plan to migrate in the lookout for employment opportunities

The Daily Star published in its issue of today a feature on the migration of the educated and highly skilled Lebanese youth in search for jobs and interviewed a number of young Lebanese to this effect.  A medical student, Carlos Ajami, 31, said his family has invested nearly USD110,000 in his education, but “my salary after graduation was very low which forced me to look for a better opportunity abroad, and I was accepted by a German hospital.” The story of Ajami is not unique, as an entire generation of Lebanese aged between 20 and 35 believes that employment prospects in the country are slim and consequently, they tend to leave. According to statistical data published by Information International in 2015, around 34% of young people have expressed a desire to emigrate. Also, the University Observatory for Socio-Economics situation indicated that since 1992, more than 500 thousand persons, mostly young, have actually left the country. Similarly, data of Lebanon’s Central Administration for Statistics in 2011 indicates that 77% of the total umber of emigrants is under the age of 35 years. The newspaper went on to conclude that despite stringent emigration conditions and high financial costs, most of interviews people favor leaving the country in search for a more prosperous and stable future. Quoting Sabine Haupt from the Goethe-Institute in Beirut, the newspaper reported that Germany is the desirable destination for educated youth, particularly since it is a highly industrial country in need of skilled newcomers. (Daily Star, January 19, 2016)