Former employees of Tripoli's US-based Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) fast food restaurant chain staged a sit-in outside the restaurant Friday; calling on the management to re-employ them after the diner had re-opened its doors and recruited new staff, a year and a half since it was set ablaze by demonstrators.
The protesters distributed a statement to media reporters, whereby they explained their situation, and addressed the city’s deputies and leaders of security apparatuses, urging them for help.
“Why aren’t you defending the rights of those who brought you to power? Do you know that more than 30 workers are now unemployed? Have you realized that the illegitimate competition presented by the presence of Syrian workers have put the citizens of Tripoli below the poverty line? Did you know that we have put our lives at risk when we tried to extinguish the fire and protect the company’s premises?” the protesters said in their statement.
On September 14, 2012, hundreds of protesters set a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on fire, chanting anti-American slogans and protesting the pope's visit to Lebanon.
The incident came as Pope Benedict XVI began a three-day visit to Lebanon and as anger over a film, which Muslims considered as blasphemous to Islam, spread across the region.
The number of Syrian refugees fleeing their country and crossing into Lebanon has surpassed one million, according to a recent report issued by the United Nations High Relief Commission.
Accordingly, Lebanon has been dealing with the severe repercussions imposed by the influx of refugees, which in turn has taken a heavy toll on the economic, social and security situation in the country.