The Lebanese government banned the import of scrap metal from Syria following the journalistic investigation carried out by EL PAÍS, The new Arabic and the collective of Syrian journalists SYRAJ on the use of steel from armed conflicts for the manufacture of steel in Turkish factories intended for European countries.
The investigation, which took a year of work and was published at the end of October with the support of Journalismfund Europe, revealed the routes by which the war reaches Turkey from countries such as Libya, Russia and Israel. Regarding Lebanon, the report reveals that it has become a fundamental node for Syria’s exit to international markets, avoiding any type of sanctions and allowing the recovery of funds from organizations such as the Syrian 4th Acorazada del Ejército Division, an elite force commanded by Maher el Asad (brother of Deputy President Bashar and the Assads).
According to exclusive documents obtained by journalists, the 4th Division controlled the entire process: from the recovery – in which major miners participated – of the posts, beams and sections of roofs of the buildings destroyed by Russian and Syrian aircraft to the distribution and sharing of the hatchery between businessmen close to the regime and its departure from the country in trucks escorted by military convoys.
Lebanon’s official statistics do not reflect any imports from Syria over the past decade, but documents obtained in Syria and various Lebanese sources confirm the existence of this trafficking. And that, in fact, chatarra is exported via Lebanese ports to Turkey and Egypt. Furthermore, the president of the Chatarra Traders Association of Lebanon, Ahmad Barbish, explained in the daily Nidaa al Watan it’s 40% Much of the chatarra exported from Lebanese ports comes from “contraband from Syria”.
The ban on importing Syrian chatarra was taken on December 12 by the Council of Ministers of the Lebanese government, chaired by the independent Nawaf Salam. Among the decisions taken that day, later published in the Official Gazette, number 19 states that: “The petition of the Ministry of Finance aimed at preventing shipments of flat metal iron from Syria, the purpose of which is its export from Lebanese ports, is approved.” Lebanon lacks recycling plants, so all the waste it receives from Syria is destined to be re-exported. Meanwhile, Syria already has projects to transform steel into steel, and the new government, chaired by the Salafist Ahmed al Shara, has banned the export of any type of metallic metal since June, given its importance in the reconstruction of the country and the danger posed by its uncontrolled recognition, due to the presence of sinister projectiles. explore.
The Lebanese newspapers that reported on this government decision cite the conclusions of the investigation published by EL PAÍS, although they also highlight the fight against the collapsed economy and the possible sources of financing of Hezbollah, the Shií militia party with a large presence in southern Lebanon and which was one of the main allies of the Assad regime’s deputation during the civil war that devastated the old country. The US government has spent months pressuring Beirut to take action against the Shii group’s financial apparatus and disarm it, as part of the firefighting agreement with Israel.
Hezbollah participated in numerous illegal trafficking with which the Syrian regime was financed – capture, weapons… – even in the case of chatarra smuggling, the EL PAÍS investigation no longer reveals that it was directly involved. However, several sources confirmed that some – not all – of the Chinese import routes passed through areas of the Syrian-Lebanese border controlled by Hezbollah, and that the Shii militia maintained close collaboration with some smuggler clans.
International steel trade is worth €40 billion each year, and around a fifth of the world’s steel exports end up in Turkey, the country that proportionally produces the most recycled steel. In recent years, under pressure from the steel lobby, the European Union began to restrict chatarra exports to Turkey, which is why Turkish producers looked for other suppliers, such as Venezuela, Libya, Lebanon, Russia or Ukraine.
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