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The Minister of Agriculture, Akram Shehayeb, issued last week four decisions regarding livestock, dairy products as well as the import of banana. The first resolution No. 490 carried a timeline setting amendment of Article 8 of Resolution No. 1/487 dated 11/6/2014 and related to the export and re-export of live cattle and sheep. Therefore, the modified decision becomes as follows, “With regard to mountain goats and sheep, the decision shall be effective from 7/6/2016 to 7/7/2016”. The second decision No. 1/513 imposes on bananas import a prior import permit issued by the Agriculture Minister and observed by various exporting countries. The third decision No. 1/514 regulates the import of white cheeses, dairies and formula milk products and vegetable oils. It comprises 11 articles regulating the application and registration of the dairy factory, the required import papers, procedures on goods arrival, sanitary conditions, field inspection, weight of products and the restriction of re-packaging, as well as document keeping system. The fourth and last decision No. 1/515 involves regulating the import of dried milk products, dried milk formulas and vegetable oils and comprises 10 articles stipulating same above conditions, in addition to temperature control to be observed during the transport and transfer of the goods. (Al Diyar, June 26, 2016)

 

The Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in Saida and the South announced last Saturday its support to new projects implemented that target women members in six cooperative associations. Support to these individual projects came as part of UNDP-support to a broader scheme aiming at rural women coops in Nabatiyeh and the South, and which is implemented by the Chamber and funded by the Drylands Development Center-DCC (http://web.undp.org/drylands).The initiative seeks to strengthen the marketing and production capacities of cooperatives in order to boost their economic sustainability.  The Chamber also announced that the six winning cooperatives were: the Agricultural Cooperative Association in Aitaroun, the Productive Agricultural Cooperative Association in Adshit, the Cooperation Association for the Manufacture and Marketing of Agricultural Products in Hula (Moonit El Dai’aa), the Cooperative Association for Food Processing and Marketing in Abbasiyeh (Jood El Ard), the Cooperative Association for Rural Food in Hariss (Al Imad) and lastly, the Cooperative Association for Artisan and Agricultural Manufacturing in Qana- the Holy Family. It is to be noted that the  programme to support the Agricultural Cooperative Association in Aitarun aims to increase the income of 50 women in the cooperative and in the village, through raising chickens for eggs production, while Adshit undertaking aims at increasing the productive capacity of the Coop’s line of products, the thyme (zaatar baladi), through the provision of zaatar seedlings and the required irrigation network and water reservoirs, due to the growing demand on this rural commodity. The remaining projects in Houla, Abbasiyeh and Hariss benefit women members through development of their productive capacities by securing the proper tools and equipment needed for food processing, mainly for the making of jams, preserves and traditional mooneh items. (Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, As Safir, June 26 and 27, 2016)

 

Following the arrest of the Safra and Ma3ameltayen women trafficking networks east of the capital, the General Directorate of Security Forces- Public Relations Section, announced in a statement on Saturday the uncovering of yet another prostitution ring this time in the areas of Dora and Hamra in Beirut, in less than two months. Some 12 involved Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian girls, one under age, along with five young men, have been captured.  The culprits used mobile phones and social media to entice customers. The arrest came upon information gathered by the Anti-Human Trafficking and Morals Protection Bureau- the Judiciary Police Unit. The five men facilitated the act of prostitution, the SF statement said, noting that investigation is underway by the competent court. (An Nahar, Al Diyar, June 26, 2016)

 

Related news:

New mafia network in Safra for Syrian women trafficking

75 Syrian girls freed from a Lebanese human trafficking mafia located in Jounieh

 

According to two separate surveys by the ‘Insider Monkey’ report on ethnic relations, Lebanon has scored an advanced position among Arab states as the most racist country, and ranked second after India on the global map. While the first survey included a question about whether a person minds having neighbors from other ethnicities, the second was more direct in asking about the person’s reaction if he/she was exposed to or if he/she witnessed a racist incident. The main findings of the above survey which targeted over 85 thousand people in some 61 countries  between the years 2014 and 2015, have shown the following: Nearly 36.3% of Lebanese respondents said they were intolerant to neighbors from a different race, and 64.3% confirmed to have witnessed incidents of a racist feature. On the subject, Al Akhbar daily considered that the Lebanese discriminatory tendency was first demonstrated with the arrival of the Palestinian refugees and was later exacerbated with the influx of migrant women domestic workers, Syrian laborers and climaxed with the inflow of displaced Syrian nationals. In this respect, the former labor minister, Charbel Nahhas, pointed out to a deep-rooted bigotry in Lebanon largely exhibited in ministerial communiques. He mentioned the 1992 memo published by the labor ministry which sorted out foreign workers into different categories. The first category includes representatives, agents and CEOs of foreign companies, in addition to owners of commercial and non-industrial businesses and the second comprises all the remaining foreign employers; the third category embraces foreign laborers working at national or foreign establishments, and this, was sub divided into three hierarchal classes based on a scale of salaries. The fourth and last category includes MWDWs working at employers houses. In his criticism of the above classification, Castro Abdallah, head of the National Federation of Trade Unions in Lebanon, said that while the concept in itself seems fair and customary in terms of stamped fees, it is rather racist in application. (Al Akhbar, June 24, 2016)

 

The report released during a conference yesterday by Insan Association under the heading, ‘Migrant Women Domestic Workers Trapped in Lebanon’ did not bring anything new other than the usual criticism of the unfair sponsorship (Kafala) system. What was new, however, was the detailing of legislations and conventions in observation of those rights, mainly the right to have a decent place to live and to move freely. According to the above study, the sponsorship system has in fact institutionalized the concept of enslavement of persons through the practices of employers. As such, migrant woman domestic workers (MWDWs) are deprived of their most fundamental rights like, the right to end a working contract, the right to a decent working environment, to be paid regularly, to keep her identification papers with her, or the right to health insurance. These work terms, the study expounded, should be properly applied. Yet, nearly 78% of employers tend to confiscate their workers’ passports or personal belongings throughout their stay; 80% of MWDWs are not allowed to leave the house in the absence of their employers and, around 31% of these workers are subjected to forced detention, the study indicated. Likewise, the Public Security (PS) Department, who markedly did not attend the conference organized by Insan, interprets Article 8 of the employment contract signed by the MWDW and approved by the Labor Ministry, and according to which the employer (or sponsor) is bound to provide decent housing for the migrant worker, as a mandatory live-in condition. The report concluded by warning that restricting the mobility and movement of MWDWs by their employers or by the owners of recruitment agencies, is considered, by virtue of law, a criminal offense or even a felony. In light of Article 569 of the Penal Code, the punishment for the crime of denying a person his or her freedom could reach as far as life imprisonment. This could also be applied to the cases of forced detention and confiscation of personal papers. (As Safir, Al Akhbar, June 23, 2016)

 

The National Gathering to Abolish Discrimination Against Women considered in a statement issued yesterday that the Lebanese Parliament’s return to the 1960 Electoral Law under numerous pretexts is a crime against the democratic system and could provoke further unwanted conflicts in the Lebanese society. The statement stressed that laying the grounds for a better future necessitates the building of a civil and democratic state that is immune to instabilities outsides its borders. This, the statement went on to say, can only be achieved through a contemporary electoral law that readdresses the current ill representation in political decision-making positions. In its note on the recent municipal elections, the statement mentioned that the outcomes of above elections in many areas “have reflected a general eagerness for change, as well as an actual progress by Lebanese women in nominating themselves to senior mayoral and municipal positions.” The Gathering pressed the need for modifying the present municipal legislation so as to observe the following elements: proportional representation, a single electoral constituency for all of Lebanon, women’s quota representation, and the lowering of the voting age. The statement closed by reiterating the key causes the Gathering has been struggling to achieve since 1999, notably, the Nationality Law and the Unified Civil Code of Personal Status, calling on partner organizations to join forces to this end. (An Nahar, June 22, 2016)

 

Following a session of the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee yesterday, the Minister of Interior Nuhad Mashnuq pledged to follow up the disciplinary investigations which started after the uncovering of the infamous women trafficking network east of Beirut and which will expectedly end this coming July (the news: http://www.lkdg.org/ar/node/14988). MP Michel Musa, who headed the session in the presence of Mashnuq and the Social Affairs Minister, Rashid Derbas, announced that the investigation will involve any member of the Security Forces with proven participation or complicity in this crime. Musa confirmed that the act of human trafficking violates international conventions and harms the country’s reputation globally. Similarly, Derbas reportedly promised to protect and follow-up the cases of victims of human trafficking and prostitution under a partnership agreement between his ministry and concerned civil associations.  In the same vein, the Arab Center for the Development of the Rule of Law and Integrity (ACRLI) in collaboration with the German Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), are organizing a national workshop on Human Trafficking. According to the Director of Projects Department at ACRLI, Nelly Rihan, the crime of human trafficking is the “most appalling assault on human rights, because it infringes on the dignity of the individual and is closely associated with the security of citizens and with promoting social stability.” She made clear that fighting trafficking requires international efforts and cooperation, aided with internal legislations and regulations as means for prevention and deterrence of such crimes. 

(Al Mustaqbal, An Nahar, June 22, 2016)

 

The Director General of the Federation of Arab Banks, Wissam Hassan Fattu7h, disclosed last Sunday that the remittances of the 24 million Arab migrant workers have reached some USD 49 billion in 2015. Egypt came first among Arab countries and seventh globally in terms of money transfers (USD 19.7 billion in 2015, representing nearly 40.4% of the overall transfer of funds from Arab migrant workers to their home countries. Lebanon for its part, came second with some USD 7.2 billion. According to Fattu7h, the phenomenon of risk aversion, coupled with the fall of oil prices and a slow economic growth in the Arab oil producing countries, have all led to a slight decline (3.3%) in the emigrant remittances to Lebanon in 2015, which is still better when compared to 2014 (8.4% of decline). To this effect, the Federation released a study on the overall transfer of funds by workers to and from the Arab region, targeting 11 Arab labor exporting countries in 2015, namely, Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Palestine and Yemen. The study indicated the significance of migrants’ transfers as a vital element for the overall economic stability of labor exporting states. It pointed out that in 2015 these remittances represented 16% of the overall size of Lebanese economy (that is the GDP). As Safir, Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, June 20, 2016

 

A number of representatives of six clubs at the Lebanese University (LU) staged a sit-in yesterday at the Central Administration, Museum area, in Beirut, to protest a social media post by one of the students in Nabatiyeh branch, in which he threatened any female student who dared to wear what he termed ‘indecent’ clothes on campus. The above post prompted negative reactions due to the implicit verbal threat published on the College’s site with some 17 thousand followers. The incident instigated fears about the fate of personal freedom and the continuity of the LU as a state institution reflecting the nation’s diverse social fabric. After releasing a statement denouncing the rejectionist views, the students were soon joined by the head of the public relations department, Ghazi Murad, who read an official statement dissociating the university form the stand of the student in question, and reiterating its role as a place for dialogue, diversity and pluralism. 

As Safir, June 21, 2016