Despite financial crisis, ISF still performing duties

Some institutions have been more negatively impacted than others by the financial and economic crisis.

An obvious illustration of the severe harm done to the military and security institutions is the Internal Security Forces.

Before the crisis, the ISF's annual budget, which was sufficient to deal with hospital and health-related challenges, was 100 million dollars.

With the currency's value collapse following the crisis, this budget, which only amounts to $5 million, became tight. 

The military institution, which looks after about 150,000 retired and active service members, started to struggle to get sick and injured people admitted to hospitals.

The ISF does not own military hospitals, but some dispensaries and the collapse of the budget value make it impossible to secure the cost of hospital admission.

The ISF gathered donations from Lebanese businessmen totaling more than $3 million and put them in a fund. Still, it needed more money by the end of the year because it used this fund to make daily payments to hospitals of between 20,000 and 60,000 US dollars.

Not even prescription medications could be obtained for the military and their families. The ISF approached health associations and organizations for assistance, but more was needed.

Officers and soldiers of the Internal Security Forces are forced to secure their food while serving at their own expense because, like in other institutions, there are no kitchens that provide them with free food.

The General Directorate is making efforts to secure additional financial support for the military men in the institution, as those whose salaries have lost their purchasing power due to the collapse of the lira have not yet received any amount in fresh dollars.

As a result of the lira's value falling, school aid drastically decreased, especially since many colleges and universities specified a portion of the tuition fees in fresh dollars.

Due to demobilization requests, the security forces institution, which had approximately thirty thousand members in active service before the crisis, shrank to only twenty-five thousand; it should be noted that volunteering in the institution is also not permitted.

The Internal Security Forces, which combats crime, hears citizen complaints and disputes, and oversees the protection of prisons, public administrations, public institutions, headquarters, embassies, and traffic safety on the roads, requires urgent attention because the loss of security after the loss of a living will constitute a significant turning point in the collapse that has already occurred.