Can you imagine that there is a country which is unable to print papers, unfortunately this dramatic situation exists in Lebanon since several weeks.

Mokhtars are suffering from a severe shortage of papers for citizens’ paperwork such as Extract of Individual Civil Status (Ikhraj Kayd), ID card, judicial record, among others. They are trying to resolve these issues by themselves.

Mokhtar Chaaban Badra, has been working in this domain since the early 1980s, he confirms to Sawt Beirut International (SBI) reporter Ghassan Farran that they didn’t experience such obstacles even in the midst of the civil war. “They tell us that the state unable to print new papers, so shall we give citizens identity cards or paperwork. What’s happening is a shame, and the state must bear its responsibility.”

Badra added: “What’s happening is travesty and humiliation for people, and there is a great demand on extract of civil status papers, as any official paperwork requires the latter especially for immigration.”

It is common in Lebanon that politicians’ promises have always been words without actions or “mere ink on paper”, but today even papers no longer exist.