News Report: May 2022

June 3, 2022

Weekly News Reports 2022

–Photo Credit: “العمل المنزلي في لبنان قبل وبعد الأزمة الاقتصادية”, Kafa.org.lb

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.

Migrant Woman found Dead in Zouk Mikayel [here] and [here]

A Bangladeshi woman was reportedly found dead in Zouk Mikayel on May 16, identified by only one media outlet as Momtaz Madbor. She was taken to Bouar hospital after a forensic examination in the presence of security forces. More details are yet to be made public.

Nabatieh Governor Imposes Curfews for Syrians for Elections, Denies It is Racist [here] and [here]

The Governor of Nabatieh issued a statement announcing a curfew for Syrian residents from 6pm Saturday, May 14 until 8am Monday, May 16 as a measure for the parliamentary elections, asking municipalities to report any non-compliance.

ARM called the governor’s office to request clarification for the racist decision and did not get a comment.

Ghobeiry Municipality Closes Businesses Employing Non-Lebanese [here] and [here]

Ghobeiry’s municipal police forced a number of shops to close down temporarily for not granting work permits for their non-Lebanese employees on May 1. The municipality announced that it will continue to crack down on businesses owned and/or run by non-Lebanese workers -without specifying whether work permit holders are excluded- and that this measure aims to protect Lebanese workers.

FPM Candidate Nada Boustani Falsely Quotes UNDP, Blames Syrians for Power Cuts [here] [here] and [here]

In an interview with LBCI, former Minister of Energy and Water Nada Boustani claimed that the crisis of “displaced” Syrians takes roughly 5 hours of electricity away from Lebanese people as well as causing other financial harms. She claimed that her source was a study conducted by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in 2014.

While we couldn’t find the exact study or quote from UNDP, no follow-up to that statement was made. On the contrary, Nada cited the inability to secure enough money, political bickering and the 30-year-long monopoly network of private generators as interconnected causes of power cuts, which contradicts her original claims.

GSO Announces Period of Settling Legal Status of Irregular Foreigners who Wish to Leave Lebanon [here]

The General Directorate of General Security announced that, as of 19/05/2022, foreigners with no valid residency permit who wish to leave the country can start settling their legal status until the end of the year, regardless of the duration of their irregular status. An amnesty for penalty fees is not included as part of these measures.

The Spread of Misinformation during Lebanese Elections: An Example of Hate Speech and the Lack of a Plan to Integrate Syrian Refugees [here]

In the week leading up to the Lebanese elections, many politicians and media outlets resorted to blaming Syrians for the economic collapse. In response, Syrian journalist Ammar Abd Rabbo dissected the narrative of scapegoating in the media.

The video, which was released as a collaboration between Refugees = Partners and Daraj Media, compares the experiences of hosting refugees, its pros and cons, as well as the media portrayal of refugees in Lebanon with other countries that hosted refugees, like Turkey and Germany.

Ammar recommended a few practices to avoid the spread of misinformation, for example critically analyzing election news on social media and carefully checking the source before sharing.

Three Syrian Men Assaulted in Ashrafieh [here]

Three Syrian men were physically assaulted in Sassine Square, Ashrafieh as reported by Akhbar Assaha. The news was not reported elsewhere, which is common in case of assault against Syrians in Lebanon.

Further details are yet to be shared.

ACHR’s 2021 Annual Report Documents Violations Committed against Syrians in Lebanon [here]

Access Center for Human Rights published a report on May 25 on the human rights violations committed against Syrian refugees in Lebanon in 2021.

The report documented 1,738 violations, 955 of which were forced evictions mainly in Zahle and Baalbek. The report goes into more detail describing the severe economic and health situation that has affected the population in Lebanon, highlighting the systematic discrimination exercised by Lebanese officials against Syrian refugees. The report was based on interviews with Syrians’ affected by human rights violations as well as defenders of human rights.

May 5: President Aoun to Head Meeting of Members Attending the Special Brussels Conference [here]

President Michel Aoun is expected to head a meeting for Lebanon’s envoy to the special conference that will be held in Brussels on May 9 and 10 to discuss matters related to Syrian refugees.

The meeting will entail confirming the official stance of Lebanon in accordance with Aoun’s stance which insists on returning them to the safe areas in Syria and supporting them financially there.

Lebanon’s envoy to the conference will be headed by Minister of Social Affairs Hector Hajjar along with a number of consultants and the Lebanese ambassador to Belgium.

The article wrongfully refers to Syrians as immigrants and not refugees.

May 6: Summary and Analysis of Lebanon’s Plan for returning Syrians [here]

An article by Nidaa Al Watan summarized the events related to Lebanon’s plan to return Syrian refugees, and addressed the lack of an implementation mechanism despite the issue being a central topic in the past few years and especially now in the context of electoral silence ahead of the parliamentary elections.

An important highlight in the report is the fact that the UN’s aid to Syrians in Lebanon is received by the Central Bank in USD which then pays it to the recipients in Lebanese pound at the exchange rate set by Sayrafa. This contradicts the misinformation spread previously by this same news outlet in other articles that scapegoated Syrians and deliberately lied about them receiving aid in USD.

May 7: Lebanon Requests Three Billion USD for “Syrian Immigrants Crisis” [here]

Minister of Social Affairs Hector Hajjar told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that Lebanon’s envoy to the Brussels conference will present solutions to the “Syrian immigration crisis” and will demand a previously requested amount of 3-3.5 million USD in aid.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdallah Bou Habib announced Lebanon’s need for support in returning Syrian refugees as opposed to financial support to keep them, stating that Lebanon cannot prevent them from migrating to Europe otherwise.

May 13: Return of Syrian Refugees “Controversial Topic” in Cabinet Meeting ahead of Parliamentary Elections [here]

Sources told Al Joumhouria newspaper that President Michel Aoun and several ministers affiliated with his Free Patriotic Movement had been bringing up the issue of return of Syrians from Lebanon deliberately ahead of the upcoming elections on May 15. During the last cabinet meeting before the elections, Minister of tourism Walid Nassar mentioned the impact of Syrian immigration on the tourism sector by emphasizing the “high cost that must be addressed.”

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Abdallah Bou Habib stated that he informed the two conferences in Brussels that “Lebanon is no longer able to endure the weight caused by Syrian immigration”, adding that “Lebanon does not want financial aid but support to return them to Syria”. He also stated wrongfully that “[Syrian] immigrants in Lebanon are not political refugees seeing as they left Syria due to the war; but now they can return given the situation [in Syria] has become stable and therefore they can go back.”

Minister of Social Affairs Hector Hajjar stated that “the [Brussels] conferences did not indicate intentions to assist Lebanon in returning Syrians as much as they entailed discussions to integrate them in host communities, regularize their residency status and allow them to work.” Hajjar obviously objected and made it clear that “Lebanon has done its fair share of humanitarian work by hosting them and it is time for a practical plan to return them.”

President Aoun expressed his disapproval of integrating and added that “most Syrians in Lebanon are not politically oppressed.”

The cabinet session concluded by setting a meeting for the committee working on Syrian refugee return to start implementing the plan in coordination with security forces.

Historical Overview of Labor Migration in Lebanon [here]

An article by Al-Akhbar laid out a historical overview of migrant workers in Lebanon starting from Nakba until today;s financial collapse. The article highlighted the beginning of Lebanon’s reliance on migrant labor starting in the seventies with the entry of bank deposits following the emigration of Lebanese workers to Gulf countries. This emigration led to a gap in the workforce and consequently, the need for cheap labor was provided by migrant workers coming from countries like Syria and southeast Asia around the time of the Civil War.

The overview also entails details related to Palestinian workers after the start of the Israeli occupation in 1948 and highlights the class shifts related to domestic work up until today.

Misleading Report on Unemployment of Lebanese despite Mass Evacuation of Migrant Workers [here]

An article by Al-Akhbar reported on the surprising ongoing unemployment among Lebanese people following the evacuation of a high number of migrant workers from Lebanon. While the report argues that the nature and structure of the Lebanese economy reinforced the alienation from certain types of jobs that have been systemically restricted to migrant workers over decades, it wrongfully and explicitly suggests that those jobs were “monopolized” by migrant workers who “drained Lebanese people’s dollars by sending remittances to their countries.” The author concludes that this in turn led to leaving Lebanese people with no dollars and no jobs.

Kafa Call for Overdue Inclusion of Domestic Work in Labor Law [here]

Kafa Organization called in a statement for including domestic work in the Labor Law by abolishing Article 7 of the Labor Law and passing a law to regulate it due to the abuse and exploitation enabled by Kafala, specifically after late 2019. Lebanese and Syrian domestic workers reported similar working conditions which only confirms the need for a new legal framework to protect domestic workers by moving away from Kafala.

The statement included the following figures:

The number of migrant domestic workers (MDWs) who came to Lebanon in 2018 dropped from 79,000 to 6,574 in 2020 following the economic crisis, as reported by the General Security Office;
The number of work permits issued for MDWs dropped from 201,000 in 2019 to 132,000 and 61,000 in 2020 and 2021 respectively.

Syndicate of Owners of Restaurants Urges Citizens to Vote, Scapegoats Foreign Workers [here]

The Syndicate of Owners of Restaurants, Cafes, Night-clubs & Pastries in Lebanon called on Lebanese citizens to participate in the elections by voting, citing the need to protect the tourism sector and Lebanese workers by regulating foreign workers.

News Report: May 2022