Back to Contents Riad Al Khouri: I do not know about that. I have heard no direct connection between COVID-19 and child marriage. If you found information on the web, that is fine. Asylos: Thank you very much. Now, moving on to the section on access to the labor market, we found sources relating to legal restrictions on Palestinians’ rights to work in Lebanon, especially due to the ban on certain high wage liberal professions outside the camps. We also found information according to which amendments came to the Lebanese Labor Law and Social Security Law in 2010, which waived work permit fees for Palestinian refugees born in Lebanon. Does it mean that Palestinians still need to obtain a work permit to work, but do not have to pay for this government paperwork any longer? This would be a first question, and the second question, do you know what is motivating the passing of such amendments, if you are aware of them, and whether they had a positive impact on Palestinian refugees’ access to the labor market? Riad Al Khouri: I am not familiar with the details of this issue. However, I can tell you that in manual labor, about lowskilled labor, there is absolutely no problem with Palestinians doing low-skilled labor completely informally for low pay. However, once you get into the more formal, official let us say, work, whether it is clerical or professional, then there is a problem, but I am not familiar with the details of the work documentation and so forth. I do know there have been campaigns in Lebanon over the last few years in the direction of liberalizing the work permit regime, but as I said, I am not familiar with the details. Back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, there was a specifically anti-Palestinian portrayal, public portrayal, public statements by either officials or by politicians and other public figures who were not necessarily officials but had a high profile. There was a powerful anti-Palestinian mood in the country in those days. This is no longer the case. Having said that, in the old days, the mood was also against the Syrians. And of course, as always in Lebanon, if you happen to be rich or well-connected, then this issue did not come up. Therefore, the Palestinian who is poor, the Syrian who is poor, is the one subject to criticism and discrimination today. The anti-Palestinian mood in specific is less than it was in the past. It is still there, but it is no longer a major issue compared, for example, to the anti-Syrian mood. And as I mentioned a minute ago, the Maronite Patriarch the Maronite Patriarch is a member of the Vatican College of Cardinals. He votes in the election of the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. So, this is not a junior figure. This is a high-profile figure with an international presence - he made a statement telling the Syrian refugees to leave Lebanon. And this is the feeling among people. No such statement exists now about the Palestinians. Asylos: Would you say that stateless Palestinians are still more vulnerable to arbitrary arrest and detention by Lebanese authorities than the rest of the population? Riad Al Khouri: They were. I do not think they are anymore. The Syrian refugees are more liable, more vulnerable. But the Palestinian case is no longer major issue. There is a key point here. Most Palestinians have a connection to an armed militia, an armed Palestinian group. They were practically running the country in the late 70s, early 80s. They are still there, and they are powerful inside the refugee camps. And they have influence outside the camps. So, this is a counterbalance to the state and private militias in Lebanon. In other words, the Palestinian will directly or indirectly get protection from his own Palestinian militia, even though he is not a militia member. Somebody in his family will be. And there will be balance, let us say, to counterbalance the effect of a Lebanese militia or even Lebanese army or police. Asylos: Would you say that this is the case only for Palestinians living in camps or also outside the camps? Riad Al Khouri: Every Palestinian somehow has a connection, the ones in the camps more so because the militias are openly active inside the camps, according to agreement with the Lebanese government. Outside the camps, it is more subtle. It is more indirect, but it is still there. Asylos: Do you have any information on harmful detention or the types of conditions in detention for Palestinians? Riad Al Khouri: I do not think there is any major difference today in Lebanon between conditions of detention. You are now talking about government prisons and government detention, yes ? I do not think there is any difference between how a Palestinian is in jail and how a Lebanese or a Syrian refugee or anybody else is. Asylos: Moving on to the section on access to justice and state protection, do stateless Palestinians reach out to the police in case they have a reason to do so? And if not, why won’t they? 17. Appendices 160