One in five children from London who were questioned said they were frightened of being bullied.

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"Therefore they were illegal and they were frightened of being found with them, so they hid them, " he said.

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"They were frightened maybe the sea will come up, " Max Kamave said.

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Mr Jillings said some of the victims may have deliberately not mentioned well-known people when being questioned because they were frightened of the repercussions.

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But many people said they were too frightened to tell their friends they were suffering from mental health problems because of the stigma attached.

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It didn't seem to matter to the agents whether they found the person they were looking for or if frightened people in the home could not produce papers.

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Civil servants, Beirut's rumour mill claimed, were so frightened that they had stopped taking any decisions.

ECONOMIST: Lebanon