In Lebanon this month,
like spring flowers,
proposals to give Palestinians
the right to work
are bursting out all over
Posted May 04 at Countercurrents & May 05 at The People's Voice.
Shatila Palestinian Refugee Camp
Beirut
This year, the Merry
Month of May in Lebanon includes Labor day, the May 15 anniversary of the
Nakba, the month long Lebanese municipal elections and the May 5 elevation of
Lebanon to the Presidency of the United Nations Security Council. Yet, for most
Palestinians wiling away their lives in Lebanon's 12 fetid refugee camps and 27
gatherings, May will pass anything but Merry. The festive Labor day and month
long elections, held in the 26 municipalities in Lebanon, with the
participation of more than 650 glad-handing vote-seeking candidates extolling
the Lebanese virtue of working to provide for one's family, constitute a cruel
joke for Palestinian refugees denied the right to work. (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
The May 15th anniversary of the Nakba reminds the World that Lebanon's
"camp Palestinians", approximately 15% of the 750,000+ who were
ethnically cleansed six decades ago, suffer an existence that
is demonstrably the most inhumane of any of the 58 camps in the Middle East,
including Gaza. Warehoused in open air prisons, their children are among the
most discriminated against of this largest and oldest refugee population on
earth. With drug use, drop-out rates, violence, health issues rising fast--
test scores, school attendance, academic achievements, hope and self-esteem are
plummeting.
Lebanon's May Day pledge to the UN: " We are honored and will fulfill
our responsibility towards the Palestinian cause"
Despite proudly producing one of the authors of the 1949 Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, its current membership on the governing board of the
International Labor Organization, and now holding the Presidency of the UN
Security Council (UNSC), the first time in half a century, doubts remain whether
Lebanon is up to its international duty. Entrusted by the international
community with the exigent work of implementing internationally mandated civil
rights, doubts remain whether Lebanon will fulfill its pledge relating to civil
rights for refugees including the right to work and the protection of refugee
children. Increasingly the international community, as well as its own
population, is urging Lebanon, now being referred to as "Mr.
President" before the Security Council and the entire United Nations,
as it prepares to preside over the UNSC agenda on the subject of "Arab
responsibilities towards the Palestinian cause" to begin its critical
work where the need is arguably the most exigent. That would be inside the
borders of Lebanon itself.
Last week, introducing an Arab University Beirut (AUB) workshop on the subject of securing the right to
work for Palestinian refugees, Rami Khoui, Director of the Issam Farris
Institute and prolific writer on Middle East affairs, told the participants
"The atmosphere in Lebanon, at least on the level of rhetoric, is changing
in favor of civil rights for Palestinian refugees." And so it is. The
question remains whether popular will can generate enough political will for
the Cabinet and Parliament to enact an elementary civil right to work into
Lebanese law.
'Illegal' Palestinian labor as valued subsidy for Lebanese businesses
Lebanese bureaucracy, as in many countries, can make the most pro forma paper
work task inordinately complicated. Consequently, for Palestinians in Lebanon,
obtaining a work permit will remain a major hurdle for a variety of reasons
including 'security considerations', lack of awareness by the applicant of how
to proceed, the economic exploitive advantage to Lebanese businessmen and women
who prefer cheap illegal Palestinian labor which literally subsidizes
the Lebanese economy by millions of dollars annually, and inflate their
personal profits--as well as occasionally bigoted government workers in some
ministries. Support for this assertion in found in the recent 2009 Najdeh
(Help) Association (www.associaton-najdeh.org)
survey that found that only 1.2% of Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camps
residents have been granted work permits. The past month a total of 2 work
permits have been granted Palestinians, but since the work permit must be
renewed annually these two could simply be renewals.
Through sustained and varied efforts, and to their eternal credit, Lebanese
civil society organizations, international and local non government organization's (NGO) and even some Lebanese
politicians are pushing for enactment of legislation to grant basic civil
rights to Palestinian refugees. The initial batch of drafts bills vary
significantly. As they are discussed in conferences, meetings and workshops,
there is a perceptible trend in the direction of merging the key elements into
a sort of 'unity bill' that will include the minimal acceptable elements--
granting Palestinian refugees the right to work, an identification document,
access to public education and lifting the legal prohibition barring home
ownership.
Among the draft bills headed to Parliament"
