BEIRUT: Labor Minister Sejaan Azzi has revealed that some 10,000 Lebanese laborers have been forced out of their jobs and have been replaced by foreign employees, mainly Syrians. In an interview with LBCI Saturday, Azzi blamed companies for the replacement of Lebanese workers.
“There is a huge, frightening case of firing Lebanese workers,” Azzi said. “The main reason [for their dismissal] is not due to the economic situation, but rather because Lebanese employees are being replaced by foreigners,” he added, referring to Syrian refugees.
The labor minister added that some companies were deliberately creating unfavorable circumstances for their Lebanese employees in an attempt to force them to submit their resignations. Azzi warned that his ministry would be referring companies replacing Lebanese workers with foreigners to the judicial authorities.
Azzi’s statements came a day after the Labor Ministry issued a statement warning of a crackdown against unlicensed enterprises and cautioning company bosses against replacing Lebanese workers with Syrians.
The statement named multiple unlicensed private sector companies, the majority of which were based in the Bekaa Valley area of Baalbek-Hermel and in Akkar in the north.
The ministry warned that it would work with the Internal Security Forces to find companies that were firing Lebanese employees to hire Syrians. Some 1.1 million Syrian refugees have escaped their war-ravaged homes in hopes of a safe-haven in Lebanon. Due to their precarious circumstances, they often accept much lower wages than their Lebanese counterparts.
Source & Link : The Daily Star
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