All summer, the departure lounges at the Rafic Hariri Airport in Beirut were packed with expectant passengers. Yet instead of the usual energizing atmosphere of families going on holiday, the air was heavy. Faces were grim, as they lugged suitcases full of their most precious belongings and worried about the family left behind.
Many Lebanese have left before, but unlike the previous migrations, this time it is not war they are fleeing, but despair.