Letter from the Minister of Labor, Kamil Abu Suleiman

In recent days, several positions and movements have emerged, rejecting the repercussions of the Ministry of Labor's plan to organize the foreign labor force on Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Statements were also made by the chairman of the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee, former minister Hbadan Mneimneh, who said that "the Minister of Labor, Kamil Abu Suleiman, insists on adding clauses preventing facilitation of the settlement of Palestinian refugees "published by the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee in March 2017. Among these elements insist on keeping a job for a working holiday.

Given that some of these positions and statements are based on false or incomplete information and are open on the ground to the owners of good intentions to lead an objective discussion, Abu Suleiman clarified the following points:

"1. The Lebanese Labor Code provides that any non-Lebanese employee, including Palestinians, will be entitled to a work permit in accordance with the following legal provisions:

Article 59, paragraph 3 of the Labor Code, amended by Law No. 129 of 24/08/2010, provides:

– before modification:

Article 59 Paragraph 3: Foreign workers shall enjoy the rights enjoyed by Lebanese workers on condition of reciprocity upon dismissal and shall have the right to obtain work permits from the Ministry of Labor.

-After adjustment:

Article one:

The third paragraph of article (59) of the Lebanese Labor Law adopted on 23/9/1946 is amended as follows:

Foreign workers enjoy the rights enjoyed by Lebanese workers on a reciprocal basis and are required to obtain a work permit from the Ministry of Labor. Palestinian refugees duly registered in the register of the Ministry of the Interior and Municipalities – Political Affairs and Refugees Directorate – are exempted from the conditions of reciprocity and the work permit issued by the Ministry of Labor.

Article 2:

This law shall enter into force as soon as it is published in the Official Journal.

Law 129 exempts the Palestinian refugee from the amount of his vacation and does not exempt him from the obligation to obtain a work permit that remains owed.

* Law of 10 July 1962 governing the entry and exit of Lebanon, as amended by Law No. 173 of 14/2/2000, which states:

Article 1:

Is a foreigner within the meaning of this law a real person other than Lebanese nationality?

Article 25:

A foreigner other than an artist may not exercise any professional activity or profession in Lebanon unless he is approved by the Ministry of Labor in accordance with the laws and regulations in force.

It is hereby established that any non-Lebanese person who wishes to work in Lebanon must obtain a work permit.

* Law No. 70/1 of 17/1/1970 and its last amendment dates from 2002:

Article 26 of Article 2 stipulates that Palestinians registered with the Refugee Board must pay 25% of the value of the fees indicated for the work permit and the prior approval. This law also stipulates that the Palestinian refugee worker must obtain a work permit.

Since the obligation to obtain a work permit is stipulated in the laws, the Minister of Labor can not exempt the Palestinian procedure from the obligation to obtain them, unless these laws are changed.

2. Palestinian refugees have a legitimate private life compared to foreign workers. They are really registered in Lebanese law. We respect this privacy and apply it to the Ministry of Labor before requiring it.

The Lebanese laws and the decisions of the Ministry of Labor have dedicated this specificity through:

* Exemption from work permit (Law No. 129 – Amendment of Article 59 of the Labor Code) and obligation of reciprocity.

* Exempt the Palestinian employer of 75% of work permit fees (Law 70/1).

* Exemption from the laboratory examination (decision n ° 7/1 of 22/1/2013).

* Exemption from the bank deposit certificate. (Decision No. 7/1 of 22/1/2013).

It follows from the foregoing that none of the successive labor ministers exempted Palestinian workers and was legally unable to exempt them from work permits in accordance with Minister Salim Grizati's decision 7/1. refused certain documents when they applied for a work permit.

Nor did he understand the decisions of the former ministers that the employment contract should be highlighted, as evidenced by the fact that the draft decree submitted by Minister Muhammad Kabara on July 27, 2018 (published in following the recommendations of the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee of March 2017) provided that each Palestinian refugee To obtain a work permit and specify for each category of workers the documents necessary to obtain this leave and "submit a contract of employment signed by the "Institution", he is committed to giving the worker to the National Social Security Fund.

3. The Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee has recommended to Palestinian workers to obtain work permits, submitted by the Council of Ministers in March 2017 to a recommendation including a draft implementing decree no. ° 129.

But it is not legally necessary to issue decrees applicable to Law 129 because this law:

* In force since the date of its publication in the Official Journal.

* Implemented by the Ministry of Labor since 2010.

4. The Ministry of Labor will not oppose the adoption of applicable law decrees 129 when it limits the concerns of Palestinians to the detriment of discretion.

5. Since the implementation of the plan in June 2019, the Ministry of Labor has provided additional facilities for Palestinian refugees, including:

* Exemption from the obligation to make a guarantee statement or commitment to enroll the worker in the guarantee as a condition of obtaining a work permit.

* Exemption of Palestinian employers from the obligation to determine their share of the company's capital at a minimum of 100 million pounds.

* Exemption from any ratification by the notary.

* No imposition of percentages of the number of Palestinian actions compared to Lebanese as is the case with foreign workers.

* Equality between Lebanese and Palestinians in the fines imposed by the law.

The employer has the right to collect benefits from the employer indicating the status of the Palestinian worker, his monthly salary, the beginning and nature of his work, or a contract of employment signed by the employer and the worker.

* Be satisfied with any document proving the existence of the institution of the employer (municipal declaration or Mukhtar …).

Therefore, the insistence on the granting of a work permit without an employer's identity document cancels the validity of its contents and is contrary to the decisions of the former Ministers of Labor and creates confusion with the National Labor Office. social Security.

6. The Palestinian employee must prove his refugee status entered in the registers of the Ministry of the Interior and Municipalities in order to benefit from the provisions of Laws Nos. 128 and 129. This contradicts the affirmation of some of the between them that access to Palestinians' work permits would deprive them of their refugee status.

7 – The Ministry of Labor's plan does not target Palestinians, but we can not exclude the category of others without the application of the law.

8. Benefits of the work permit It proves the rights of the Palestinian salary to the employer in terms of remuneration, working hours and annual opportunities. It also allows him to benefit from an end-of-service allowance and the National Social Security Fund has been in place since 2010.

According to the latest estimates, there would be approximately 3,100 Palestinian employees, of whom only 1 000 would benefit from a redundancy payment due to their work permit, while 2,100 Palestinian workers who pay their contributions do not not benefit.

Noting that the independent account for Palestinian refugees in security has reached about 14 billion pounds. "

He stressed that "we are open to any discussion and any dialogue within the Council of Ministers in this regard, as well as to discuss any working paper submitted by the Palestinian side, and this has not yet taken place" .

"But I would like to express my sympathy for the suffering of the Palestinian people in general and Lebanon in particular, as well as Rafi al-Mutlaq for the agreement of the century and for the settlement and solidarity with the just Palestinian cause. , which is the main topic of discussion of the Arab world. "

He stressed that "this is what has been expressed openly by Arab and international work platforms over the past three months".

He also praised "the wisdom and responsibility of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his special envoy, Mr. Azzam Al-Ahmad, and hailed their rejection of any form of escalation and their insistence on maintaining dialogue and the application of Lebanese laws ".

He added: "I have decided that Lebanese law is the only ceiling that I can fulfill in the exercise of my ministerial duties in order to preserve the State and the institutions as well as the rights of the people. Lebanese and non-Lebanese ".