MoL closes two new employment offices in Mount Lebanon and Baalbek

The Minister of Labour (MoL), Sejaan Azzi, endorsed a decision to close two employment offices, one in Mount Lebanon and one in Baalbek after confirming that they were in violation of the laws.  Azzi’s media office issued a statement last week noting that judicial investigations started with a number of employment offices following the request of the Interpol which received complaints from a number of countries who said that women were being sent to massage parlors and night club rather than being employed as domestic workers.  Azzi’s statement added that law enforcement is pursuing all those shown to be in infringement of the laws and investigations are on-going with women brought in from Asia, Africa and Latin America.  Furthermore, the owners of the two employment offices in questions have been arrested and are being interrogated.  Moreover, Azzi asked law enforcement to conduct regular patrols of massage parlors to ensure that they work within the law.
Source: Al-Nahar, Al-Safir 1 November 2014

For more information on closing other employment offices, please refer to the news published on the WEEPortal on 14/10/2014: A ministerial decision to close two MWDW employment offices in Bint Jbeil and Tyre with no explanations