Many well-off Lebanese who escaped their country’s economic tailspin for a new life in the nearby island nation of Cyprus say the transition has been a whirlwind of emotions.

They are grateful they did not have to turn to human smugglers and embark on risky Mediterranean crossings to reach European shores. But they also feel guilty for leaving family and friends behind to struggle with Lebanon’s unprecedented crises — a failing economy, political uncertainty and social upheaval.

The feelings are intense for Celine Elbacha, an architect who moved with her family of four to the Mediterranean island nation in August 2020, and Nadine Kalache Maalouf, who arrived with her husband and two children four months ago.

They are among more than 12,000 Lebanese who have left their homeland in the past two years for Cyprus — less than a 50-minute flight from Beirut — enrolling their kids in schools, setting up businesses and snapping up apartments on the island.

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“We were fortunate to be able to come,” Maalouf said. “We’re doing our best here as a Lebanese community to help … our families, our friends back home. So it’s not like we just moved and we turned our backs and we’re not looking back.”

Thousands of Lebanese, including teachers, doctors and nurses have left the country amid a devastating economic crisis that has thrown two thirds of the country’s population into poverty since October 2019. That brain drain accelerated after the massive explosion at Beirut’s port last year, when a stockpile of improperly stored ammonium nitrates detonated, killing at least 216 people and destroying several residential areas.

Read more: AP