Labor shortages and restrictions on Syrians threaten agriculture in Lebanon

In Lebanon’s southern border areas, where Syrian labor provides the backbone of the agricultural sector, landowners and investors are sounding the alarm, concerned that government recent restrictions have decreased the number of available workers, with potentially dire consequences for their harvests. General Security’s decision to restrict the entry and residency permits of Syrians in Lebanon hit both farmers and investors, with the much needed Syrian workers becoming subject to a constraining “Kafala” sponsorship system. It is to be remembered that large numbers of Syrian workers were seasonal, who would stay in Lebanon for only a couple of months. But many Syrian laborers now see the high cost of entering Lebanon as a result of the new government regulations as outweighing the benefits and are more hesitant to come. It is also to be noted that the Lebanese government also barred Syrians who register for refugee status with UNHCR from working in the country, forcing them to sign pledges not to work. The domestic workforce has been so far unable to compensate for the loss. Agriculture ventures often require hundreds of workers, and landowners say the sector is facing a major shortage of labor which can affect all of the agriculture cycle. During harvests, fruits and vegetables will perish if not be picked quickly enough, and farmers stand to lose a significant portion of their crop and income as a result. Riad Khalifeh, the local representative of the Agricultural Workers Syndicate, explained that members of the National Union for Agricultural Associations in Lebanon met recently with General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim to express their concerns. Khalifeh said that a number of options for bringing in more Syrian workers were currently under study, adding that Agricultural Associations will meet soon to review the situation. “If no solution is found, agriculture in the south will be ruined,” he warned. (The daily star, 22 June 2015)