BEIRUT/CAIRO ¨C Asma Ibrahim, an unemployed woman who lives in a cramped shack in northern Lebanon, has no idea why she was refused a welfare benefit for the country¡¯s poorest people ¡ª money that would prevent her five children from going to bed hungry.
¡°People in need are not receiving anything,¡± she said by phone from the deprived Akkar region, adding that she had been calling a government hotline twice a week to ask why she was turned down after applying more than a year ago.
In the absence of an explanation, she blames corruption, and is angry that some of her neighbors are receiving the aid. ¡°How is that supposed to make me feel?¡± she said.
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