The UK is secretly planning to introduce harsh cuts to its foreign aid budget that supports Lebanon and other struggling countries, openDemocracy, a UK-based political website, has revealed.
“Secret” government plans leaked by the website indicate that the UK is planning massive cuts in overseas aid to many poor countries around the world, including Lebanon, within weeks.
The UK‘s aid to Lebanon, which is still reeling from the Beirut Port explosion and the effects of a crippling economic crisis amid the ongoing pandemic, is expected to fall by 88% as a result of the cut, according to the leaked documents.
The leaks come nearly one week after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson came under fire for cutting the UK’s aid budget for war-torn Yemen by nearly 60%.
Johnson has also been criticized for a reported decision to introduce an annual £4-billion (approx. $5.5 billion) cut to the UK‘s aid budget.
More than 100 organizations and charities have united to condemn what has been described as “a death sentence” for millions of people drowning in destitution in the affected countries, according to The Independent newspaper.
Other countries that will be affected by the proposed aid budget slash include Syria (67% cut), Libya (63% cut), Somalia (60% cut), Nigeria (58% cut), and others, as per the leaked information.
The reductions will reportedly start from April 2021.
