By Annie Slemrod
Daily Star staff
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of two articles closely examining the labor rights of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon in light of the new law approved by the Lebanese Labor Ministry. The second will appear tomorrow.
BEIRUT: Last month, caretaker Labor Minister Butros Harb signed a law that was hailed as a step toward making it easier for Palestinian refugees to obtain labor permits in Lebanon. Originally passed by Parliament in August 2010, The Daily Star has learned that the law is currently being implemented in a way that does not conform to the text Harb signed.
In August 2010, Parliament passed a draft law that amended previous legislation from 1946 and 1963. It eliminates the $300 fee previously required for Palestinians to attain work permits.
The law also allows Palestinians to work in all professions that are open to other “foreigners.” This excludes more than 30 professions governed by syndicates, including law, engineering, medicine and nursing. Palestinians are also to receive some end-of-service payments from a fund separate from the National Social Security Fund.
Harb approved the legislation Feb. 22, elaborating on its details. The text Harb signed lists the requirements for application as two photos, a government-issued refugee identity card and “a signed document by the applicant clarifying the profession he or she wishes to work in.” It also increases the validity of permits from one to three years.
The law only applies to Palestinian refugees who live in Lebanon and are registered with the Department of Political and Refugee Affairs in the Ministry of Interior.
Harb told The Daily Star that he approved the law because he “thinks the best way to help [the Palestinians] is to give them the possibility of a decent life here without causing problems for security or interfering with national politics in Lebanon. I think for [Lebanon], as a country that is backing and supporting the Palestinians’ rights to go back to their country and to have the rights of Palestinian citizens, it is important to help them … to live decently.”
It is estimated that between 260,000 and 426,000 Palestinian refugees live in Lebanon. A study released in December 2010 by the American University of Beirut concluded that only 37 percent of working age Palestinians in the country are employed, including full- or part-time employment.
According to the text that Harb signed on Feb. 22, the law is awaiting approval at the Shura Council. However, acting director general of the Labor Ministry Abdullah Azouk told The Daily Star the law was not under consideration by the Shura Council and that the ministry began implementing it five months ago.
He told The Daily Star that in addition to the requirements listed above, applicants are being asked to submit a work contract, an insurance policy, and medical results. He said that the permits are being issued free of charge and for three years.
Azouk said that work contracts are required “because [this] guarantees the employee’s rights.
“It defines the relationship between employer and employee.”
In a statement, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency had earlier told The Daily Star the law was “a very important step for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon as it will provide them with better social and economic opportunities.”
Specifically, it noted the significance of removing the work contract requirement: “[The law] will contribute to improving their living conditions, facilitating access of Palestinian refugees to work permits and de-linking those permits from a work contract.”
An UNRWA spokesperson later declined to comment on how the law is being applied.
Activists had argued for the elimination of the work contract requirement as it could be used to limit both the length of permits and workers’ options. Hassan Abdullah, general director of the Palestinian Human Rights Organization, said he believes “Palestinians are born here and they work here. They shouldn’t have to have a permit at all,” but that the removal of the work contract requirement was part of a compromise solution.
Abdullah confirmed to The Daily Star that “according to the minister, [applicants] should not need a contract. That is at least the information [the Labor Ministry] sent … and [an applicant] shouldn’t need insurance.”
Laila al-Ali, director of the Palestinian nongovernmental organization Association Najdeh said she also understood that the ministry “shouldn’t be asking for work contracts.”
She said that “on March 11 [I participated in] a workshop with the Lebanese Palestinian Dialogue Committee where two representatives [from the Labor Ministry] said that a work contract will not be required.”
Souheil al-Natour, a Palestinian jurist familiar with the legislation, said that it is his opinion that the ministry is not permitted to implement the law without approval from the Shura Council.
The caretaker status of the administration complicates the matter. Natour said “[the ministry] will cover themselves and say [we can do this because] ‘we are not an actual government.’”
He also emphasized that the document an applicant must sign, as referred to in the Feb. 22 text, is not the equivalent of a work contract.
“It isn’t the definition of a contract by law,” said Natour, adding that “between the talk about [the law] and the practice there is a gap.”
When asked for his comment on the discrepancy between the law and its implementation concerning the work contract requirement, Harb said “my personal opinion is we shouldn’t ask for work contracts from Palestinians who live in Lebanon because work contracts are what is asked of foreigners who come to work here.”
“The law is not being completely implemented,” he said. “It needs follow up.” – With additional reporting byReem Harb
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