News Report: April 2022

April 29, 2022

Weekly News Reports 2022

–Photo credit: “اللجوء السوري في سوق الانتخابات اللبنانية”, Aljumhuriya.net

Articles and views shared in the Weekly News Report do not necessarily represent ARM’s views. Information in these articles has not been fact-checked by ARM and may contain some errors. ARM is simply compiling all news relevant to migrant communities to inform our advocacy efforts and to facilitate the work of organizations that cater to migrant communities.

Governmental Committee for Syrian Refugee Affairs Holds Session [here] and [here]

The governmental committee tasked with Syrian refugee affairs held a session on April 29 followed by a press conference where the Minister of Labor Moustafa Bayram stated that “Lebanon can no longer handle the presence of refugees.”

He also falsely claimed that organizations give financial aid in USD to Syrian refugees, adding that they are a burden on the country’s resources.

The voices of Syrian refugees in Lebanese elections [Here]

An article in AlJumhriya discusses the position of Syrian refugees in Lebanese parliamentary elections from 2005 to 2022, emphasizing the current discourses, most of which are racist, by different candidates and political parties.

The sounds of Refuge in Beirut [here]

Al Jumhuriya released a report highlighting some personal experiences of Syrian and Palestinian refugees under the economic crisis in Lebanon.

Syrian-Palestinian Refugee and her Child Detained in Beirut Airport [here]

The Palestinian Refugee Portal documented the detention of Palestinian refugee “B.H” and her child by the authorities of Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut upon their arrival from Amsterdam. The Working Group for the Palestinians of Syria reported that B.H arrived on April 27, to be prevented by the Lebanese authorities from entering its territory, on the pretext that she had committed a violation for two days before leaving Lebanon in 2013 under family reunification to the Netherlands.

They added that B.H , “not knowing the Lebanese laws, booked a transit ticket to Aleppo in an attempt to leave Lebanese territory, but the flight only takes off every Saturday, so the authorities detained her until the time of the flight.” Additionally, many other cases of detention and deportation of Palestinian refugees holding a Syrian travel document have been reported, whether at Beirut airport or elsewhere, seeing as countries, including Lebanon do not recognize refugee travel documents and do not grant them entry or residence visas except in exceptional cases.

Director Roser Corella: Domestic Workers in Lebanon are Prisoners [here]

In an interview with Almodon, film director Roser Corella spoke about the situation of migrant domestic workers (MDWs) in Lebanon after the release of her new documentary “Room Without a View”. The film follows the lives and struggles of MDWs under the Kafala system, and highlights the Lebanese employers’ perception of the employment relationship.

Syrian Stories about Lebanese Residency: Impossible Conditions, Blackmail, and Fear of Arrest [here]

Refugees = Partners released a report highlighting the residency status of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, citing UNHCR’s statistics which show that only 16% of Syrians have valid residency documents, and only 0.5% have valid work permits.

The report also emphasizes the impossible conditions imposed by the General Security on Syrians entering through the border and obtaining legal residency. The lack of residency status prevents Syrians in the country from accessing education, and the COVID-19 vaccination (which has been a practice and not an official policy), and puts them at constant risk of deportation and detention.

The very few people who were able to obtain a residency permit did so through owning real estate or investments in Lebanon, or through paying for expensive housing contracts or private university tuitions; conditions that marginalize poor Syrians. The other route would be through having a Lebanese citizen sponsor their residency, which opens the door to a multitude of abusive and exploitative practices similar to those suffered by migrants under Kafala.

Amnesty International’s 2021-2022 Annual Report Findings on Lebanon [here]

Amnesty International published its annual report for 2021-2022 on the status of human rights worldwide. In its Lebanon report, the section on Migrant Workers sheds light on cases of wage theft, passport confiscation, and mass arbitrary dismissals that migrant domestic workers were subjected to in 2021. This has led to approximately 400,000 workers being stranded in Lebanon, unable to work or go back home. The report also highlights the fact that Lebanon refused in its Universal Periodic Review to commit to abolishing the Kafala system, and rejected the recommendation to sign and ratify the International Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers and their Families.

The report further documents 26 cases of Syrians, of which 4 are children, arrested on allegations of terrorism and subjected to torture and degrading treatment by the Lebanese Military Intelligence as well as other security bodies. None of the cases that were taken to court were investigated by Lebanese authorities. Finally, the report also documents cases of involuntary repatriation of Syrian nationals, and efforts to halt their deportation.

Misinformation by Monte Carlo International on the Situation of Migrant Domestic Workers under Lebanon’s Economic Crisis [here]

A short report by Monte Carlo International makes a number of false claims about the situation of migrant domestic workers (MDWs) under the economic crisis in Lebanon. The article alleges that MDWs are paid 250 USD/month, 3 times the national minimum wage, which is not true and unfounded, and debunked several times by rights organizations and media outlets covering the living conditions of MDWs since the onset of the crisis.

It also states that, because of increased cases of wage theft, recruitment agencies have resorted to repatriating many workers. This contradicts information ARM has received since 2020 regarding the lack of support for workers who wanted to travel back home and received no support from the agencies, in addition to the numerous protests led by migrant workers demanding repatriation in 2020 and 2021.

Finally, the report claims that only a minority of workers chose to stay in Lebanon, with no evidence to sustain this claim; and this also contradicts the statistics published by official entities such as the General Security and Ministry of Labor.

Philippine’s Labor Executive Rejects Call to Lift Ban on Employment of Filipinos/as in Middle Eastern Countries [here]

The Philippine news agency published an article on the possibility of lifting the ban on deployment of Filipino workers in some countries in the Middle East that regulate migrant workers through the Kafala (sponsorship) system. Labor Attaché Alejandro Padaen of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Lebanon dismissed proposals to lift the ban on the deployment of Filipino workers in the country, saying it may be “unwise” to do so at this time.

Padaen cited the pending finalization of the Standard Unified Contract for domestic workers as a barrier to revising and finalizing the bilateral agreement between the governments of the Philippines, which in turn constitutes a barrier to lifting the current ban for which the negotiations have stopped since 2012 after the ban was imposed in 2007.

Padaen stated that 17,000-19,000 Filipinos/as are in Lebanon as of June 2021, but that these numbers have probably changed since the ongoing repatriation efforts since 2020.

World Cup in Qatar: Security Workers Subjected to “Systematic Abuse” [here]

An article on BBC Arabic covers Amnesty International’s report published days after the World Cup final official draw, documenting the abuse of 34 employees of private security companies. Amnesty International describes the experiences of the interviewed migrant workers in ‘forced labor’, as they reportedly were forced to work for months and years without any days off, which is in violation of Qatari labor law.

The migrants interviewed work for private companies that provide services for sites including football stadiums, as well as infrastructure projects necessary for the organization of the World Cup. It is also reported that neither FIFA nor the Qatari Supreme Committee for Projects and Legacy had worked to detect violations or attempt to remedy them, despite many documented cases of labor exploitation and even after the deaths of many workers that died from horrible working conditions in the heat.

10 years after Living under Kafala, Labor Arbitration Council gives justice to Halima Arba Ouba [here]

An article on Sharika w Laken documents the case of Halima Arba Ouba a Filipina worker who filed a case for wage theft against her employer, with the support of CLDH. 5 years later, A request to summon her previous employer was issued unanimously by the Labor Arbitration Council. According to CLDH, the ruling issued by the council stipulated: “obligating the defendant to pay the plaintiff an amount of 11,100 US dollars, or its equivalent rate in the national currency, on the date of payment.” This amount represents the balance of the salaries owed to her for the period of her employment, with its legal interest from the date of September 28, 2018 until the date of actual payment. This ruling comes in opposition to legal precedents and jurisprudence prevailing in Labor Arbitration Councils and may lay the foundation stone for the access of many migrant workers to their rights in cases of wage theft.

What is striking about the ruling is the description of the Labor Arbitration Council of the relationship between the parties to the dispute as “a working relationship and not a relationship between a sponsor and the individual he sponsored,” in contrast to the prevailing trend in similar cases. The Council also invalidated the “statement of release” Halmia was forced to sign before her travel testifying that she received her legal entitlements and all allegations of good treatment made by the employer.

News Report: April 2022