دراسة مقدمة من مركز التنمية الانسانية حول تداعيات واجراءات وزارة العمل اللبنانية اتجاه العمال وارباب العمل الفلسطينيين اللاجئين في لبنان

Ambre REGANI In Beirut on August 8th

Sarah TALIBI

The negative consequences of the application of the labour law

Some 170,000^[1] Palestinian refugees live in Lebanon, 72.8%^[2] of them in refugee camps.

But the number of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon is a very sensitive political weapon. As a result, the figures are never clear and reliable. There are two reasons for this:

1. Government manipulation: for many years, the figures were only exhaustive and were not the subject of any upstream research work. As a result, there were between 400 and 500,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. This contributed to fuelling anti-Palestinian hatred by showing that there were more and more of them and that by obtaining a work permit, they would take the place of the Lebanese.

1. Non-registered in UNRWA: between 5,000 and 6,000 Palestinians are unregistered in Lebanon with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. They are therefore stateless, without identity documents, they do not exist in the registers of Palestinian refugees. And this is passed on from generation to generation, so we end up with entire families without papers and not recognized as refugees taken in charge by UNRWA.

As a result, the number of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon is only an estimate and cannot reflect reality.

According to Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, there are 174,422^[3] Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.

How can we explain the difference in the figures?

First, there have been many unrecorded deaths, which has affected the increase in the number of refugees. Secondly, many refugees have left Lebanon waiting for a better life.

Refugees living in Lebanon in particular have always faced a state of economic and social exclusion.

The Palestinian situation in Lebanon is critical. Indeed, since the Nakba, thousands of Palestinians have come to settle in makeshift camps in Lebanon. But a situation that was supposed to be "temporary" has been going on for more than 70 years now. Highly affected by unemployment, they struggle to improve their living conditions.

Let us return to this mass unemployment and professional instability, several factors of which must be taken into account, in particular Lebanese legislation on the right to work of Palestinians.

Lebanese legislation and the right to work of foreigners:

In Lebanon, the right to work of foreigners is governed by two conditions: the principle of reciprocity and the granting of a work permit. The principle of reciprocity is based on equal treatment, i.e. if a Lebanese person enjoys the right to work, social security, housing etc. in country X, nationals of country X will also enjoy the same benefits if they settle in Lebanon. As for work permits, for the exercise of certain professional bodies, it is necessary to obtain one from the Ministry of Labour and the other ministries to which the professions are attached. It should be noted that work in agriculture, construction or shops as an employee does not require a work permit.

The Lebanese State has a rather volatile stance on the status of Palestinian refugees: for some things, they are considered foreigners and for others as refugees with special status. In the field of labour, the Lebanese administration considers Palestinians to be ordinary foreigners who therefore require the principle of reciprocity in order to be able to work. So, let the Palestinians demand to be considered as refugees and not as foreigners with a special status.

The special case of the Palestinians:

In his book"Palestinian Refugees", Souheil El-Natour highlighted the decisions taken by the Lebanese government in recent years that have had a significant impact on the social and economic situation of Palestinian refugees."Following the Israeli occupation of the Lebanese capital and the departure of the PLO, several decisions have been taken by the Lebanese government to restrict work opportunities, such as Order 189/1 of 18 December 1982, issued by Minister Adnan Mroué, which restricts access to certain professions to Lebanese only. The order of 11 January 1993 issued by Minister Abdallah Amin also restricted other occupations to Lebanese and prohibited them from foreigners (3/1). The same applies to Order 622/1 of 18 December 1995 issued by Minister Assaad Hardan. Practically the works authorized to the Palestinians are no more than the cultivation of the land, as labourers, masonry, mechanical works, repair and perfection trades"^[4].

As early as 1951, Palestinians were singled out by the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, who accused the Palestinians of "stealing" the work of the Lebanese. A nationalist and protectionist argument that allowed and pseudo legitimized the persecution of the latter. Thus, legal access to the labour market for Palestinian refugees is closed, while upon their arrival they enjoyed freedom of work.

It should be noted that Palestinians are considered foreigners and are subject to the same restrictions. Thus, in order to be able to work, they must obtain prior authorization from the authorities. This situation is questionable because we expect this group to be recognized as a particular identity, a certain autonomy. The fact of considering them as foreigners imposes de facto on them the principle of reciprocity. However, it cannot be applied to Palestinians since they do not have a recognized State, which prevents any bilateral agreements and therefore no recognition under the Lebanese Constitution. Moreover, the application of this principle to Palestinian refugees runs counter to the principles of reception and ease of work set out in the 1969 Cairo agreements.

In addition, Palestinians cannot work in the public sector because they have been required to have Lebanese nationality for more than 10 years. Palestinians are also prohibited from joining professional unions and consequently from working in these professions; according to Souheil El-Natour, some 30 professions are prohibited for Palestinian refugees. Among the latter are the professions of doctor, pharmacist, lawyer, judge, engineer... All this is justified by various interpretations, including the principle of reciprocity.

It should be noted that Palestinian workers cannot benefit from the advantages of social security. Exceptionally, foreigners may benefit from them if their State of origin recognizes these advantages for the Lebanese; this cannot be the case for Palestinian refugees. Even if a Palestinian is legally hired with a work permit that is periodically updated and for which he and his boss (Lebanese or other) pay social security contributions, his right to social security and retirement is violated by law.

Let us add the fact that if an employer wants to hire a Palestinian, he must first prove that this work cannot be done by a Lebanese in order to show that the Palestinian does not steal the work of the Lebanese. It is obviously impossible to prove such a thing, which further affects the employment of Palestinians.

In the end, despite diplomas and/or expertise in certain fields, the majority of Palestinians are destined to work in the agricultural sector, be domestic or work on construction sites. For others, despite the exploitation of bosses and the dangerousness of the situation, opt for "undeclared" work: it is a matter of survival.

UNRWA, what role should it play?

Through its institutions, role and budget, UNRWA is the main economic actor. Beyond the agency's role in education, UNRWA remains the main employer of Palestinians in Lebanon. Within the latter, which has an international status, Palestinians are not required to obtain a work permit, and they can also exercise professions reserved exclusively for Lebanese nationals such as doctors, lawyers, engineers... In UNRWA health centres, it is therefore Palestinian doctors who work in the agency's health centres... There are between 2500 and 3000 Palestinian employees in the UN agency. However, due to budget cuts and a deteriorating situation. Wages and working conditions can no longer offer decent prospects for Palestinian refugees, which has led to the resilience of many Palestinian workers who have left Lebanon because of working and living conditions.

A situation that is getting bogged down?

Since the beginning of the civil war in Syria, the arrival of new refugees in Lebanon has crystallized tensions and created complex situations for Palestinian refugees. Indeed, competition for work is becoming fierce and wages are only decreasing as time goes on. According to public opinion, this contributes to the increase in Lebanese unemployment recorded in recent years. The Minister of Labour, Camille Abousleiman - aware of the urgency of applying the law - has imposed the application of foreigners' labour rights in Lebanon without exempting Palestinians who have a special situation. First, the Lebanese Labour Law requires companies to recruit three Lebanese if a foreigner works there - in order to facilitate access to employment for Lebanese people. But a Lebanese person demands a higher salary than a foreigner, with social protection. This pushes companies to employ foreign labour at lower cost, without contracts.

In this guideline, the "Anti-Illegal Labor" plan was presented by Camille Abousleiman in early June, in order to enforce Lebanese labor laws in all companies. This campaign led by the Minister of Labour aims to combat the illegal use of foreign labour. It plans to close businesses illegally owned by foreigners or employing non-Lebanese - foreign - workers without a work permit^[5]. One month after the implementation of this application, inspections were carried out, leading to a wave of demonstrations in Beirut but also in the South and East of the country. These demonstrations began on Tuesday 16 July in Beirut with the aim of marching to parliament to denounce "unjust" measures depriving what remains of the dignity of refugees.

This plan was perceived - particularly by Palestinian and Syrian refugees - as a desire to impoverish them and drive them out of the country. They see this plan as a way for the Lebanese state to deprive them of a decent life; without employment their prospects for the future and survival are in peril.

Despite the Palestinian Authority representative's call for calm and discussion, Palestinian refugees continued to demonstrate with rage and anger in order to start talks to reform the community's labour rights. These waves of demonstrations highlight the willingness of Palestinian refugees to demand progress on the issue of labour rights to prevent and stop impoverishing Palestinians.

The camps of Ein el-Hilweh, Bourj el Barajneh, Nahr el-Bared have repeatedly tried to block access to the camps by burning car tires. The Lebanese army and the Security Forces intervened in high-risk areas (Saida, southern suburbs of Beirut in particular) in order to avoid an escalation of tensions. But the intervention action is limited and controlled because the government does not want to interfere in the affairs of the Palestinian camps in order to avoid any risk of conflict.

Faced with this, Camille Abousleiman has been firm in applying these measures, particularly by denouncing the behaviour of Palestinians - feeling threatened. He published on Twitter,"Of the 550 labour law violations recorded since last Wednesday, only two large establishments run by Palestinians". "We are ready to show flexibility to help our Palestinian brothers obtain work permits ».

Despite this, demonstrations continue as do measures to reorganize foreign workers.

On the Palestinian side, while the Palestinian Authority has called for calm and discussion in order not to taint the relationship with Lebanon, other organizations and NGOs have continued to demand the withdrawal of these measures in a virulent manner.

For the Palestinian population, these measures are pretexts for depriving them of their right to work a little more every day. Many young people gathered in the demonstrations to shout out their distress and despair in a country where they were born but which is not their own.

It is necessary to demonstrate that Palestinian refugees represent only a small part of the Lebanese population. Indeed, there are 175,000 of them, 50% of them women and between 30 and 35% children. That is 50,000 Palestinians are able to work. In addition, half of this percentage lives in camps, representing a potential of 25,000 Palestinian workers in the strictly Lebanese economy. As a result, speeches claiming that Palestinian workers are taking or will take the work of the Lebanese is only a utopia and is not rational.

The labour law as a mirror of the Palestinian reality?

The application of the conditions contained in the Labour Law is a way of alerting about the situation of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Indeed, they are professionally dismissed but not only.

• A very limited right to property: Foreigners, including Palestinians, are subject to numerous restrictions on the right to property, under the protection of Lebanese sovereignty. The acquisition of real estate or land is subject to the authorization of the Lebanese government, the sole judge in this matter. The size of the property to be acquired is limited to 5,000 square metres for a single individual (3,000 square metres in Beirut governorate). Any violation of the law is very severely punished. To overcome these difficulties, Palestinians use Lebanese names or make informal agreements with Lebanese landlords. This lawlessness forces Palestinians to stay in the camps and crowd themselves into healthy housing, exceptions are quite rare because too often the prices of rental housing in Lebanon are exorbitant (especially in Beirut and its surrounding suburbs).

• A difficult naturalization: Lebanon applies the law of blood and in some cases the law of blood and soil associated with it. A Palestinian woman who officially marries a Lebanese man in Lebanon, registers her marriage with the Census Bureau and applies for it one year after registration, is granted Lebanese nationality. Naturalization may apply to any foreigner who has resided in Lebanon for at least five years, has been married to a Lebanese woman for at least one year, or has rendered significant services (military, for example) in Lebanon. The application of this law is subject to a decision by the Lebanese State, which may refuse naturalization. However, Lebanon respects the recommendation of the Arab League, which stipulates that Palestinians should not acquire another nationality. Despite this, several tens of thousands of Palestinians, mostly Christians, were naturalized between 1952 and 1994. During the civil war, some Palestinians obtained Lebanese nationality by forging passports^[6]. However, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations on 10 December 1948 stipulates in Article 15 that each individual has the right to a nationality - and I quote - "1. Everyone has the right to a nationality; 2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality or of the right to change his nationality"^[7]. But the will of Palestinian refugees is not to acquire nationality but to be treated as refugees.

• Refugees or foreigners? Palestinian refugees claim the right to be considered as a special category of refugees, established - inter alia - when UNRWA was created. Being considered as refugees with a unique and special regime gives them dignity and status with rights that they will be able to enjoy in Lebanon. Indeed, Lebanon considers them as foreigners, but this presupposes that these foreigners have a host country. However, in the case of Palestinians, most were born in Lebanon and Israel refuses to allow them to return to Palestine. In this case, how can we consider them foreigners without a country with full sovereignty? In addition, Palestinian refugees' papers are issued and created in Lebanon so they cannot be expelled. All this reflects the problem of defining a Palestinian refugee because only one generation from the 1948 Nakba was born in the Palestinian Land, all the others were born in neighbouring countries. In this sense, 2 to 3 generations have succeeded each other by being considered as refugees but born in neighbouring countries. How can we characterize a people who have a land but have already been under occupation for more than 70 years without making it possible to return? It is at the level of international law that this issue must be addressed urgently so that their situation is fixed and their rights as special refugees are heard in all host countries.

• Privatization of care: UNRWA provides medical care, but budget cuts have resulted in a dramatic decrease in services. Theoretically, Palestinians can be treated in government hospitals. But the increasingly limited possibilities of the public hospital sector do not favour the admission of Palestinians. In Lebanon, Palestinians are denied access to public hospitals and are therefore covered by UNRWA and the Ministry of Health. However, it can be seen that UNRWA's budget for hospitalization is derisory. Patients must contribute to the costs by paying between 50 to 75% of the costs. There is a real health disaster. Cardiac and cancer patients die due to insufficient budget. The average number of patients that each UNRWA doctor treats every day exceeds 90 patients. On the other hand, the other body supposed to intervene for the Palestinians, the Ministry of Health, does not offer them any medicines. It considers that the fight against epidemics and the vaccination of children is the responsibility of UNRWA and UNICEF. In addition, UNRWA operates and manages several health centres (polyclinics) in Palestinian camps. Access to private hospitals, at UNRWA's expense, is subject to difficult conditions and budgetary restrictions also limit such access. For example, there are 70,000 Palestinians in southern Lebanon, while according to official estimates, UNRWA covers only 10 to 25% of real needs while UNRWA has access to only 40 hospital beds. In general, the demand is much greater than the possibilities of reception. In the Rachidyeh and Baddawi camps, the Palestinian Red Crescent runs a hospital, with limited facilities, and collects symbolic fees. The cases covered by the Ministry of Health are few and far between. Access to health care is a fundamental right for all.

• Difficult access to the university: Lebanese universities are, by law, allowed to Palestinians. But in fact, decisions made and implemented by the Minister of Education to deprive them of public schools in order to force them to attend private schools. However, Lebanese private universities are very or even too expensive for refugees living in camps and whose parents have to make do with very low salaries. All this prevents Palestinian refugees from educating themselves and rising intellectually by depriving them of the opportunity to have a better future than their parents.

• UNRWA in trouble: Since 2018, the United States - the agency's largest provider of funds - has stopped all funding to UNRWA, causing a major financial crisis. The budget cut has had a negative impact on the services offered: education, care... In addition, in the face of the accusation of abuse of authority by the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Pierre Krahenbuhl, Switzerland and the Netherlands have suspended their additional contribution. These financial problems worsen the social situation of refugees, with a decline in salaries and contributions to families.

• Social Security contribution: Lebanese law requires that the employee and the employer pay social security before obtaining the work permit. Social Security offers three services: health, education and retirement. However, a Palestinian refugee can only claim 8% retirement. As a result, it is necessary to separate the Social Security contribution to the work permit because a foreigner or refugee cannot fully benefit from its services.

The demonstrations against the application of labour law represent the explosion and anger expressed by the Palestinian population about their situation and status. They sound like a warning cry for their future.

What are the prospects?

These social unrest are raising the scars of Lebanon's past. Indeed, since the civil war in the early 1970s and the Lebanon-Israel war in 2006, Lebanon has experienced relative prosperity. But it seems that the demonstrations are reviving the painful memories of the inter-community divide and an ever-increasing nationalism. The appropriation of this movement by Palestinian refugees also shows their non-integration into Lebanese society and proof that the wounds of the past have still not healed.

Palestinian refugees are a crucial issue for Lebanon, the slightest change could lead to a catastrophic scenario. Lebanon has two options: either to grant an equivalent right of work to the Lebanese or to grant them the right of return provided for by resolution 194 of the UN General Assembly on 11 December 1948. In the first case, the Arab League protocol in Casablanca in September 1965 introduced the idea that Arab countries hosting Palestinian refugees should treat them as their own nationals without granting them nationality so that they would not forget their struggle. However, in Lebanon this protocol is not respected - because Lebanon has ratified but has expressed reservations - since Palestinian refugees are discriminated against and considered as second-rate foreigners. In the second case, the right of return has been discussed several times at the international level, but without much success - due to Israeli refusal. The Bahrain conference is a good illustration of the dissension and cleavages on the issue of Palestinian refugees in the Middle East but also throughout the world. As a result, the right of return will only be granted with the participation of the States concerned, without foreign interference, and in accordance with the rules of international law.

This situation continues to show the fragility of the government and society where everything can change at any time. Despite its relative prosperity, Lebanon remains a country at the crossroads of several different political, religious and social influences that overlap simultaneously; and that divides an increasingly diverse society. Calm does not mean national cohesion and the advent of new stability. Since its inception, Lebanon has understood that regional upheavals are unpredictable and still influence Lebanese domestic policy.

What is the solution?

The legal solution will be the amendment of the law by the Lebanese parliament, and putting pressure on the parties of the deputies by the Palestinians in order to propose a developed draft law that would better meet the expectations and the Palestinian situation.