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According to a study done by the ILO and launched yesterday on the rights of migrant workers and the care economy in Lebanon, migrant workers in Lebanon suffer from withholding their salaries, restrictions on mobility and on personal life, in addition to physical and moral violence, intimidation and deception.  The study confirms findings of other researches in the field and goes further to say that a form of slavery is taking place in Arab countries notably in Lebanon and Jordan.  The study notes that migrant workers are in large numbers in Lebanon and the majority are men (1,019 women compared to 181 men).  The same source says that 42% of women migrants in Lebanon work 8 hours a day while 37% work between 8 to 10 hours, 8% work between 10 to 12 hours and 14% work between 12 to 14 hours a day.  Other findings include the fact that many employers refuse to allow women workers to take a day off every week and women migrant workers are not treated decently within households.  Indeed, 14% are forced to live in living rooms, while 5% sleep in the kitchen, 4% in children's room and 4% on the balcony!  Other main problems facing migrant workers is the absence of any form of guarantors of their rights which makes them vulnerable to exploitation and even slavery.  Regarding salaries, several violations have been noted as the study shows that 35% of migrant women workers receive between USD 150 to 199 monthly, while 42% receuve between USD 200 and 299 monthly and 14% receive between USD 300 and 399 monthly.  To be noted that the representative of the Ministry of Labor, Jumana Haymur, was present during the presentation of the study and withdrew from the room saying that the Ministry is not concerned by what is being said and that there are more important priorities in Lebanon notably the problem of Syrian refugees. On the other hand, the Ministry of Labour issued a new memo on September 14th freezing the operation of several employment agencies.  The Ministry noted that this new, and third batch of employment offices to be halted include Munir association for trade and public services,  Al Junub association, Tala Tours, Al Raed Association for public services, (As Safir and Al Mustaqbal, 15 and 20 September 2016)

For more about the report in Arabic, please check: http://m.assafir.com/Article/176/510620

 

The positions expressed by Minister Bassil during the concluding session of the expatriates' conference in New York regarding women's rights to nationality and the racism regarding Palestinians and Syrians (http://bit.ly/2cYHchE) continue to stir wide condemnations from various segments of society.  Indeed, My Nationality is is a Right for me and my Family Campaign condemned in a statement issued today, the outrageous racist and sexist statements expressed by the current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gebran Bassil.  The Campaign noted the Minister's insistence on the issue of the "specificity of Lebanon", an argument used the world over to justify the denial of rights. As an executive of the Lebanese government, the duty of the current Minister is to uphold rights and equality amongst citizens and not make judgments based on prejudice and discrimination, said the campaign.  Moreover, the Minister's role, as per the campaign, is also to ensure that the Constitution as well as International Human Rights Convention instruments ratified by Lebanon are upheld.  On the other hand, the Nationality Campaign noted that though it may be aggravated by the Minister's statements, yet, these statements are not surprising since they are consistent with earlier racist and sexist positions expressed by Minister Bassil and other Lebanese politicians. 

In addition, the vice director if the MENA section of Human Rights Watch, Lama Faqih, noted that Bassil's racist statements will further exclude Lebanese women married to Palestinian and Syrians from enjoying their right to transmit nationality to their families.  Faqih further accused Bassil of undermining efforts to reform the currently discriminatory family laws.  Social Media advocates also launched a hashtag campaign (#bassil_has_to_resign) calling on Bassil, to resign and condemning his racism vis-a-vis Palestinians and Syrians. (Daily Star and Al Hayat, 20 September, 2016)

 

The Italian battalion operating within UNIFIL organised yesterday in its premises in Shamehm Tyre Caza, an exhibition of women handicrafts and other local products.  The event was organised in collaboration with the Sainte Famille cooperative in Qana and with the participation of several key personalities.  The producers and representatives of active women associations presented an assortments of their handicrafts and food products.  To be noted that this Italian initiative took place within the framework of various activities and services implemented by the Italian civil-military collaboration bureau and seeks to provide opportunities for the UNIFIL personnel in Shameh as well as their guests to discover the products as well as engage with cultural life in South Lebanon and exchange with the various cultures within the UNIFIL. (Al Diyar, September 20, 2016)

 

Women and civil society organisations continue to be concerned with issues related to women's rights whereas politicians continue for their part to express chauvinist and racist views and positions.  Indeed, in his most recent statements, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gebran Bassil, who was speaking at “Lebanese Diaspora Energy Regional conference held in New York”,  noted that "whereas we heard clapping for women's rights to transmit nationality in the case of women married married to non-nationals, I too support this because there is no difference between women and men".  However, Bassil rushed to add "because our Lebanon is like this, I will not give Lebanese nationality to 400000 Palestinians because of we want to safeguard Lebanon, we must have exclusions and exceptions".  Bassil also added that this right should "not be granted to Palestinians and Syrians lest Lebanon will loose its identity".  In a related vein, the recent statement of MP Elie Marouni justifying violence against women caused a rift within the hosting organisation, RDFL, where 20 of its members presented a collective resignation from the organisation and who condemned the "campaign against MP Marouni" according to a statement issued by their regional president May Wakim who spoke to the An Nahar newspaper.

(Al-Diyyar, Al-Nahar, Al-Hayat 17, 19 September 2016)

 

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The "Maakom" social and charitable association in Tripoli celebrated yesterday the graduation of students who completed the English courses implemented by the association.  The event was held at the Rashid Karami Exhibition Centre under the auspices of the US Embassy and with the participation of leading figures.  During the ceremony, the programme director, Ghina Osta Alloosh, noted in her speech that "over a six-month period, Syrian and Lebanese women joined together in 20 classes in the North and partook in 150 sessions including class sessions as well as educational outing".  She added that this "ceremony is special because it is taking place in Tripoli, a resilient and oppressed city which suffered from conflict from decades and this has affected its social, cultural and economic fabric".  The US ambassador in Lebanon, Elizabeth Richards, noted for her part that "since 2007, the USA has provided more than USD1 billion in development aid for the Lebanese people".  She added that this grants were mostly disbursed via USAID with the aim of strengthening progress in various sectors such as education, water management, good governance and the creation of economic opportunities".  Alloosh and Edwards then proceeded to distribute certificates to the 400 participants in addition to trophies to representatives of the US Embassies, municpalities and partner associations.(Al Mustaqbal, September, 19, 2016)

 

Public, economic institutions, as well as CSO of Tripoli and North Lebanon persist in their attempts to revive the deteriorating economic situation in Lebanon’s second capital.  In its issue of September 10th, L’Orient le Jour focused on current work plans to rehabilitate the railways which link Tripoli to Abbudyeh on the border with Syria, and which is likely to start soon as per the President of the Chamber of Tripoli and North Lebanon, Tufic Dabbussi.  This new development follows the release of funds allocated for the first phase this project by the Council for Development and Reconstruction and which amount to USD 20 million.  To be noted that this railway link is expected to play an important role in the future reconstruction of Syria.  The CDR engineer in charge of this project noted that the overall cost requires an additional USD 60 million, adding that the CDR is now discussing with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) the likelihood of receiving this balance as a loan.  Also, and according to the newspaper, both Lebanon and the IDB have suggested to the World Bank that it joins the project as a partner and the latter is considering this option. Meanwhile, the Rashid Karameh International Exhibition Centre (RKIEC) in Tripoli remains comatose because of a number of factors namely the laws which should regulate the management of these premises, the unstable security situation and the size of private sector investment and that is according to the Centre’s CEO, Hussam Qobaiter. A reminder that the project was first established in the 1960s, in order to foster the development of the marginalized areas of the North including the city of Tripoli.  Meanwhile, Tripoli is in the midst of preparing for the launch of the round table to combat increasing poverty, an initiative organized by the Syndicate of Engineers in the North in response to calls for social and economic stakeholders in the North who are also calling for an emergency social-economic conference to come up with a comprehensive social and economic plan for all marginalized areas in the region. (L’Orient le Jour and Al Mustakbal, September 10th, 12th and 15th)

 

Previous related news: 

New attempts to revive the waning economic situation in Tripoli and the North

 

In its issue of today, Ad Diyar published a report on the economic situation in Lebanon.  The newspaper noted that the economic stalemate was shaken during the Eid al Adha especially in the tourism sector.  This improvement however, only lasted for a few days and returned to its usual condition shortly after the Eid ended in the Arab and Gulf countries.  According to the General Secretary of the Union of Syndicates of Touristic institutions in Lebanon, Jean Beyruti, hotels occupancy rates was between 80-85% during the Eid.  He added that this is a good turnout.  The General Secretary of the Syndicate of Hotel Owners in Lebanon, Wadih Kanaan, noted for his part that the average occupancy in hotels in Beirut during Adha reached 70% and reached 65% in mountain resorts where festivals were taking place with 55% during weekdays while shooting up to 100% during weekends.  The situation was similar in restaurants according to the president of the Syndicate of Owners of Restaurants, Cafes and Pastry Shops, Tony al Rami, who added that the situation was average during the holidays and focused on internal visitors as well as returnees from the Gulf.  Rami also pointed out to the upcoming Beirut Restaurant Festival which will be hosted in Beirut on September 30th.  The event is organized by the Syndicate and will take place in Mar Mikhail over two days with the participation of 300 exhibitors. As such, the tourism sector has shown that it is the major dynamo for many other sectors, thus indirectly contributing 18% of the GNP and 9% directly. In addition, the WTTC expects that the direct and indirect contribution of the sector will increase by 6.1% annually and that is up to 2023 when its contribution to GDP will increase to USD 20.5 billion by the end of 2023.  This is expected to increase direct and indirect employment opportunities in the direct and indirect sectors of travel and tourism by 3.7% annually and so as to reach a total of 375,000 jobs at the end of 2024. (Al- Diyar, September 16, 2016)

 

In its issue of September 12th, L’Orient le Jour interviewed Lebanese Chef and food awareness activist, Kamal Muzawak as well as artist, academic and Egyptian-Lebanese historian, Bahyah Shehab, both selected from the Prince Klaus award for 2016.  A reminder that there awards have been issued over the past 20 years to honor individuals and institutions for pioneer work in culture and development. Muzawak, the founder of Souk el Tayeb, noted that his slogan is “make food not war”.  He added that the idea for Souk el Tayeb came in 2004 in order to send a message to find bridges among various community based on food as a common denominator.  He further noted that the second aim of his work is to preserve traditional food.  Muzawak earned his award because he focused on building bridges away from sectarian divides in Lebanon. Muzawak concluded that he is now working on the Souk el Tayeb book in collaboration with the Klaus Institute so as to introduce Lebanon through history, land, agriculture and cuisine.  For her part, art historian Bahyah Shehab spoke of her fascination with Arabic manuscripts especially the word “No”.  After the revolution in Egypt in 2011, she started posting pictures on the streets saying No to dictators, No to the military and No to violence.  On winning the Klaus award, Shehab says that she got it because she was able to merge history and Islamic art in order to deal with current politics with a feminist perspective.  Shehab concluded by saying that she wishes to work with the Klaus Institute in focusing on education in the Arab world as she perceives that problems come from education and there is a need to clean mindsets.  She assured that the road ahead is long but that she will persevere. (L’Orient le Jour, September 12, 2016)