Rita did not know that she will lose her money and ID when she left work in Ashrafieh heading to Borj Hammoud at night when young men intercepted her at gunpoint and stole her wallet and bag.
Rita takes a cab on daily basis near Sassine place; one night as she got in the taxi, two young men threatened her with a gun, robbed her wallet and threw her on the roadside.
She called her husband immediately as he was terrified, and waited for the second day to report the incident to the police. Rita's incident is only a sample to highlight the activity of gang thieves roaming around the capital.
This phenomenon is increasing day by day due to the shaky political situation in addition to the influx of million Syrian refugees and the political cover granted to some gangs and the failure of the state to control regions near Palestinian camps, where assailants commit crimes and escape.
Gangs are usually formed of two to six persons and use cars or motorbikes to execute their operations and they target people who have no cars and work on night shifts.
A security source told al-Joumhouria daily that the security forces pitch night checkpoints to supervise the areas and conduct foot patrols wearing civil clothing to catch gangs.
Advisor of Minister of Interior Khalil Jebara, who is also in charge of following up on Syrian refugees' dossier told the same newspaper that the influx of refugees is the main reason behind security incidents. The crime rate has increased by 68%, while the prisons became crowded.
"The ministry's surveys indicate that the refugees are behind such increase, that's why we are working on putting term to theft and robberies and other crimes as well through various security means," Jebara added.
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