BEIRUT: Caretaker Labor Minister Butros Harb approved Tuesday a decision to organize Palestinian refugees’ work based on which they would be granted work permits.
The draft decision, which was forwarded to the State Shura Council for approval, will apply to all Palestinian refugees in Lebanon that are registered at the Interior Ministry’s Directorate of Political Affairs and Refugees.
Based on Article Two of the draft decision, the Labor Ministry’s Department of Syrian Worker’s Affairs will be tasked with issuing and renewing the work permits for Palestinian refugees after gathering and analyzing the required documents and taking other necessary measures.
Also, the department’s job will be to deal with other Palestinian labor affairs and coordinate with other departments in the ministry when necessary.
Over 400,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are registered at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
The bulk of these refugees live in and around 12 camps across the country.
Palestinian refugees are barred from all but the minimum amount of professions in the country.
A draft law proposed by the Progressive Socialist Party last June which would grant them access to the National Social Security Fund benefits, allow them to own real estate and other proposals, divided the Parliament along religious lines, with the bulk of Christian parties opposing the legislation and most Muslim factions endorsing it.
Christian parties voiced fears that this step was going to be a prelude to settling Palestinians in Lebanon, which would alter the country’s delicate sectarian balance.
In August, the Parliament passed a draft law based on which Palestinian refugees would be granted work permits, access to a few additional professions and the provision of medical care services that would be funded by UNRWA, with most major concerns remaining unaddressed.
Based on the decision inked by Harb, Palestinian applicants for a work permit are requested to hand the required documents to the Labor Ministry headquarters or to any of its departments in Lebanon.
Article Seven of the decision states that the work permit will expire after three years from its issue.
As for applications to renew the permits, the decision stipulates that they should be mailed to the Labor Ministry via Liban Post or any other company that the ministry specifies. –The Daily Star
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