Sierra Leonean-Lebanese
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| Sierra Leonean-Lebanese |
|---|
| Total population |
|
over 90,000 (about 1.6% of Sierra Leone's population) Including Sierra Leonean-Lebanese of non mixed ancestry. |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Freetown, Kenema District, Kono District, Bo, Makeni, Magburaka |
| Languages |
| Lebanese, Krio, English |
| Religions |
| Christianity, Islam |
| Related ethnic groups |
| Lebanese people, Arabs, Lebanese Australians, Lebanese Americans |
Sierra Leonean-Lebanese is an ethnic group in Sierra Leone; they are Sierra Leonean citizens who are descendants of Lebanese settlers from Lebanon who settled in Sierra Leone during the late nineteenth century.
Most (about 72,000) of the Sierra Leonean-Lebanese population are of partial Lebanese and indigenous Sierra Leonean ancestry, while about 25,000 are of non mixed ancestry. The Sierra Leonean-Lebanese population is estimated at over 90,000 or about 1.6% of the country's total population.
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[edit] History
Lebanese immigrants first came to West Africa in the mid 19th century when a silk-worm crisis struck the area, then part of the Ottoman Empire. The first Lebanese in Sierra Leone arrived in 1893, the first groups being Maronite Christians. Beginning in 1903, Shia Muslim Lebanese began to arrive from South Lebanon where there was an agricultural crunch. By the start of World War I, Lebanese had become somewhat economically powerful in Sierra Leone due to their expansion of trading interests into the interior. In 1919, Lebanese were blamed for a rice scarcity in the country, and riots broke out against them. This was one of the first major incidents that contributed to the Lebanese having a negative image in Sierra Leone[1].
More recently, contacts between some Sierra Leonean-Lebanese with Israel has played a role in Sierra Leone's diamond mining industry. Their involvement in diamonds has also caused many to mistrust Lebanese in Sierra Leone in the wake of the Sierra Leone Civil War, where other Sierra Leonean-Lebanese were claimed to have connections with Hezbollah, and the trade of diamonds for weapons[2].
[edit] Sierra Leonean-Lebanese Diamond trade
Diamonds were discovered in Kono District, in eastern Sierra Leone in 1930, and that same year, as word of the discovery spread, the first Lebanese trader arrived in Kono from Freetown and set up shop, ahead of colonial officials who did not want to establish a district office there until two years later. They were also ahead of the British-owned Sierra Leone Selection Trust, which was granted exclusive diamond mining and prospecting rights for the entire country in 1935. From that time until 1956, when an alluvial diamond mining scheme was enacted, it was illegal for anyone not working for the Trust to deal in any way with diamonds. However, illicit mining activities were rampant, with many Sierra Leonean-Lebanese subsequently settling in Kono and funding Africans to mine and sell their finds to them.” In the 1950s, the illicit diamond mining and smuggling increased dramatically, and it was estimated that 20% of all diamonds reaching the world’s diamond markets were smuggled from Sierra Leone, largely through Liberia and mainly by Lebanese. Since the 1950s, “diamonds have been the linchpin of Sierra Leonean-Lebanese business and a range of subterranean political activities in Sierra Leone.
[edit] Region with significant population
The Sierra Leonean-Lebanese population is present throughout the country, but it is mostly concentrated in the urban areas, particulaly in Freetown, Kenema, Bo and Koidu Town.
[edit] Notable Sierra Leonean-Lebanese people
- John Saab, current Sierra Leone Minister of Housing and Infrastructural Development
- Nahim Khadi, former Sierra Leonean international footballer and the current president of the Sierra Leone Football Association.
- John Akar, Sierra Leonean entertainer, writer, and diplomat. He served as Sierra Leonean Ambassador to the United States; he also composed the Sierra Leone National Anthem
- Joe Blell, Sierra Leonean politician from the opposition Sierra Leone People's Party. He served as Sierra Leone's ambassador to Nigeria from 2002 to 2007. He was also Sierra Leone's duputy Minister of Defense from 1996 to 1997
- Jamil Sahid Mohamed, multimillionaire Sierra Leonean businessman
- Farid Raymond-Anthony, Sierra Leonean writer and author
- Lamin Alharazim, Sierra Leonean journalist and currently a member of the editorial Board of the highly-acclaimed Sierra Leonean newspaper COCORIOKO
- Samir Hassaniyeh, Sierra Leonean activist
- Edward J. Akar, Sierra Leonean economist and lawyer, he is also the younger brother of former Sierra Leonean diplomat John Akar
- Umaru Rahman, Sierra Leonean football star
- Ibrahim Khalil Tahini, Sierra Leonean star
- Roda Antar, football star
- Nahim Khadi, Jr., Sierra Leonean football star
- Faisal Antar, football star
- Ali Hijazi, Sierra Leonean basketball coach and the current Head Coach of the Sierra Leone national basketball team
- Nabih Berri, speaker of Lebanese parliament
- Zuher kudsy, Sierra Leonean sports analyst
- Lance Kawas, Sierra Leonean born American film director
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] Bibliography
- Gberie, Lansana (2002) "War and Peace in Sierra Leone: Diamonds, Corruption and the Lebanese Connection". Partnership Africa Canada Occasional Paper No. Vol. 6 (Accessed on July 11, 2007 here)
