Back to Contents AlAraby, an international Arabic newspaper and website, published an analysis of the evolutions in Lebanese labour law concerning Palestinian refugees: “Here are the simplest examples in the amendment of the Lebanese Labor Law, which took place under the pressure of live forces and Lebanese parties in August 2010. Only “mitigating” measures were nominated in the same mechanism, where the Palestinian refugee remained among the foreign workers category, but was considered one of the special groups, meaning that he was exempted from fees and was excluded from the principle of reciprocity because he does not have a state, which means that his rights as an original resident will continue to be curtailed and he will be subject to administrative procedures related to the Minister of Labor and not to state laws. Until today, no implementing decrees have been issued related to end-of-service compensation, which means that the Palestinian refugee continues to be subjected to exploitation by employers. He remains prohibited from practising dozens of professions, including liberal professions such as medicine, engineering and law, and he was still prohibited from owning an apartment. It is not reprehensible after nine years of this “amendment” that the administrative mechanism would subject the refugee again to an arbitrary decision by the Minister of Labor, Camille Abu Suleiman, in the summer of 2019, in which he prevented Palestinians from working in the “fight against foreign labour.” This decision came within the framework of a political bidding against other opponents who wanted to hold the Syrian refugees responsible for the economic collapse in the country on the eve of the October 17 revolution, shops and institutions owned by Palestinians were closed, and this led to the ignition of the uprising of the camps, which was based on popular and non-factional youth movements. The Lebanese street in many cities and regions supported Palestinian refugees and parliamentary blocs to overthrow this decision. It is known that Palestinians work on free trade and private projects, in addition to working within associations, civil society and non-governmental organizations, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and UNRWA, as well as as workers in construction sites, and the camps depend on the support of the qualified expatriate youth.” [In-house translation. The author is an Arabic native speaker] ORIGINAL SOURCE: «‫ مل يرشح سوى عن إجراءات «تخفيفية» يف‬،2010 ‫آب‬/‫هنا أبسط األمثلة يف تعديل قانون العمل اللبناين والذي جرى تحت ضغط قوى ح ّية وأحزاب لبنانية يف أغسطس‬ ،‫ أي أنه أعفي من الرسوم وإستثني من مبدأ املعاملة باملثل لكونه ال دولة له‬،‫الخاصة‬ ‫ظل الالجئ الفلسطيني من العامل األجانب لكنه إعترب من الفئات‬ ّ ‫ حيث‬،‫اآللية نفسها‬ ّ ‫ وحتى اليوم مل تصدر املراسيم التطبيقية املتعلّقة بتعويض‬،‫ما يعني استمرار تحجيم حقوقه كمقيم أصيل وإخضاعه إلجراءات إدارية تتعلّق بوزير العمل ال بقوانني دولة‬ ،‫كالطب والهندسة واملحاماة‬ ‫ وبقي محظورا ً عليه مزاولة عرشات املهن ومنها املهن الح ّرة‬.‫ ما يعني استمرار تع ّرض الالجئ الفلسطيني الستغالل أرباب العمل‬،‫نهاية الخدمة‬ ّ ‫تعسفي من وزير العمل كميل‬ ّ ّ ‫ ومل يكن مستهجناً بعد تسعة أعوام من هذا «تعديل» أن تعود اآللية اإلداري�� وتخضع الالجئ لقرار‬.‫وظل ممنوعاً من امتالك شقة سكنية‬ ‫ جاء هذا القرار يف إطار مزايدة سياسية عىل خصوم آخرين أرادوا تحميل‬،»‫ الذي منع الفلسطينيني من العمل ضمن «مكافحة العاملة األجنبية‬2019 ‫أبو سليامن صيف‬ ‫ وأدّى ذلك الشتعال انتفاضة املخيامت التي‬،‫ ت ّم إغالق مصالح ومؤسسات ميتلكها فلسطينيون‬،‫ ترشين‬17 ‫الالجئني السوريني مسؤولية االنهيار االقتصادي يف البالد عشية ثورة‬ ‫ ومن املعروف أن‬،‫ ساند الشارع اللبناين يف كثري من املدن واملناطق الالجئني الفلسطينيني وكتل نيابية إلسقاط هذا القرار‬،‫قامت عىل حراكات شعبية وشبابية غري فصائلية‬ ‫خاصة إضافة للعمل ضمن الجمعيات والروابط األهلية واملنظامت غري الحكومية ووظائف منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية (م‬ ّ ‫الفلسطينيني يعملون عىل تجارات ح ّرة ومشاريع‬ ».‫ وتعتمد املخيامت عىل دعم كفاءات شبابها من املغرتبني‬،‫ وكذلك كعامل يف ورش البناء‬،‫ت ف) وأونروا‬ (Source: AlAraby.co.uk, “What is left of the Palestinian asylum in Lebanon?” 28 November 2021) The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs published a statement by the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights on his visit to Lebanon in November 2021: “Lebanon also hosts Palestine refugees, estimated at about 181,000 by UNRWA (which provides services to about 257,000 persons in total). Most have lived in the country since 1948. Yet, these refugees continue to have ambivalent legal status and live at the margins of society. They face multiple barriers to access education, decent employment and social protection, leaving them almost entirely dependent on UNRWA’s assistance and services, which, in turn, are precarious due to limited resources and fluctuations in donor funding. By virtue of series of laws, ministerial decrees and decisions, Palestinian refugees are excluded from practising 39 syndicated professions, such as law, medicine and engineering, and the principle of national preference, coupled with a requirement for a work permit, makes it practically impossible for Palestinian refugees to obtain a decent job in the formal labour market. Employment prospects for Palestinian refugees are often reduced to low-paying, low-skill work in the informal sector, without any form of social protection. While a marginal minority of Palestinian refugees working in the formal sector are required to contribute to the National Social Security Fund at 23.5 percent of the value of salary, they are considered as foreigners of a country with which Lebanon has no reciprocity agreement, and they therefore do not receive any social security benefits, except the end of service indemnity, which is only worth approximately 8.5 per cent of the paid value. 9. Access to labour market, means of basic subsistence 87