経済危機で兵士も副業　軍は見て見ぬふりも　レバノン

【トリポリＡＦＰ＝時事】深刻な経済危機が続いているレバノンでは、治安部隊の隊員が副業に走らざるを得ない状況となっており、治安の確保に懸念が生じている。（写真はレバノン・トリポリの自動車整備場で副業をする兵士のサメルさん）
　２０１９年後半に経済の低迷が始まって以来、兵士の給与は米ドル換算で約８分の１にまで目減りした。
　兵士のサメルさん（２８、仮名）は週３日、北部の港湾都市トリポリにある自動車整備工場でおじと一緒に働き、生活費の穴埋めをしている。「周りの兵士たちもほぼ全員、副業をしている」と言う。
　通常ならば、兵役中の副業は禁錮刑に処される可能性がある。しかし、今は「軍は見て見ぬふりをしている。そうさせないとみんな辞めてしまうから」とサメルさんは話す。
　レバノンでは、国民の８０％以上が貧困に陥っている。平均８００ドル（約１１万円）程度だった兵士の月給は通貨レバノン・ポンドの暴落で、今や実質１００ドル（約１万４０００円）程度だ。
　サメルさんはガレージで軍の給与の２倍ほどを稼いでいるが、幼い息子のおむつ代やミルク代がかさむため「月末になると無一文だ」とＡＦＰに語った。
　公式情報によると、軍には約８万人が、国家警察軍（ＩＳＦ）には約２万５０００人が所属している。ＡＦＰは兵士の副業問題について軍に取材を申し込んだが、返答はなかった。
　アフマドさん（２９）は１０年所属した軍を辞め、昨年から給仕係としてフルタイムで働くことを選んだ。同じ兵舎の仲間も除隊したという。脱走兵として逮捕されるのが心配だが「少なくとも以前の７倍は稼いでいるし、十分食べることもできる」と語った。
　経済危機後、軍は兵士の食事から肉を減らした。さらに２０２１年には、財源を増やすため、ヘリコプターによる観光客向けの遊覧飛行を始めた。
　■治安面での不安
　英リスクコンサルタント会社「コントロール・リスクス」のディナ・アラクジ氏は、治安部隊の士気は「経済危機によって低下している」と指摘する。また兵士の副業を暗に許可していることで「国内の安全保障ニーズに対し、効果的に対応する能力」が危うくなっていると述べた。
　ＩＳＦ隊員の経済的苦境はさらに過酷だという。
　３月に治安部隊の年金受給額引き上げを要求する抗議行動に参加した警官のエリーさん（３７）は「私たちの状況は哀れでしかない」と語った。月給はわずか５０ドル（約６８００円）程度で、農業に従事する父親と一緒に働き、３児を含む家族を養っている。
　匿名で取材に応じた治安当局者は「他に解決策がないため、ＩＳＦは副業に目をつぶっている」と語った。ＩＳＦでは保健衛生関連の予算も崩壊しているという。
　陸軍には独自の病院があるが、ＩＳＦにはそうした施設はない。エリーさんは「最悪なのは職務中にけがをした場合、自腹で病院代を払わなければならないことだ」と語った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/06/07-16:24）

A crushing economic crisis in Lebanon has impelled members of the security forces to take on side hustles to get by, raising concerns about security in the eastern Mediterranean country.
Soldiers in Lebanon have seen their salaries diminish to around an eighth of their value in dollar terms since the country's economy began tanking in late 2019.
To make ends meet, 28-year-old soldier Samer says he works three days a week with his uncle at a garage in the northern port city of Tripoli.
Almost all of my army friends have a second job, he said, standing near an open car bonnet, his hands dirty with grease and oil.
In regular times, moonlighting while serving in the military can be punishable by imprisonment.
But now the army turns a blind eye because if not, everybody would quit, said Samer, whose name has been changed as he is not allowed to talk to the media.
The devastating economic crisis -- which the World Bank says is one of the planet's worst in modern times -- has plunged more than 80 percent of the Lebanese population into poverty.
On average, a soldier used to earn about $800 a month before the crisis, but the value of the Lebanese currency, the pound, has since crashed and salaries are now worth around just $100.
Working at the garage, Samer says he earns double what he does as a soldier -- but still struggles to survive, with nappies and milk to buy for his young son.
Since June last year, Qatar and the United States have announced millions to help prop up security force salaries -- particularly for the army, seen as a key pillar of Lebanon's stability.
- 'Penniless' -
Even with the $100 extra from the Qataris every 45 days, it's still not enough, Samer told AFP. At the end of the month, I'm penniless.
Around 80,000 Lebanese serve in the army, while almost 25,000 police serve in Lebanon's Internal Security Forces (ISF), according to official sources.
The army declined to respond to an AFP request for comment on the issue of soldiers taking up second jobs.
Ahmad, 29, chose to desert after 10 years of service, preferring instead to work full time as a waiter.
I realised that staying was hopeless, he told AFP, also using a pseudonym.
He quit early last year and said others from his barracks had also left the army.
I was raised to love the uniform. I still do, but we are suffocating, he said.
Lebanon's cash-strapped military struggles to even maintain its own equipment.
After the economic meltdown began, the army cut down on meat in meals for on-duty soldiers, while in 2021 it introduced helicopter joyrides for tourists in a bid to boost its coffers.
- Security concerns -
Ahmad said he worried about being arrested for deserting.
But at least I earn seven times the amount from before -- and have enough to eat.
Dina Arakji from Control Risks consultancy said morale in the security forces has decreased as a result of the crisis.
Unofficially allowing soldiers to work other jobs has jeopardised the forces' ability to effectively cover and respond to the country's domestic security needs, she told AFP.
Police who serve in Lebanon's ISF say their financial woes are even tougher.
Our situation is pitiful, Elie, a 37-year-old police officer, told AFP at a protest demanding pension increases for armed forces members in March.
The father of three said his salary was worth around $50 and that he worked with his father, a farmer, to help feed his family.
The ISF turns a blind eye to those moonlighting as there are no other solutions, a security official told AFP.
The official, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to talk to the media, said health budgets for the armed forces had also collapsed.
The army provides its own hospital for its forces, but the ISF has no such facilities.
The worst thing is that if you are injured on the job, you have to pay your own hospital bills, police officer Elie said.