Lebanon has always hosted communities that struggle to make ends meet, but they have been constantly pushed out of sight and into run-down suburbs and remote villages amid Lebanon’s efforts to project an image of wealth – a notion far from reality and public discourse today amid the country’s crisis.
Residents of Wadi Khaled, who didn’t become Lebanese citizens until the late 1990s due to historical and political mishaps throughout the establishment of Greater Lebanon in 1920, have Bedouin roots and a continued tribal identity. An estimated 1,685 residents in the area remain stateless. This community exists mainly on agriculture, as well as trade between Lebanon and Syria - a controversial issue in the country, perceived by many as illegal while Lebanon’s financial situation plumets.