IMPOSSIBLE TO REFORM? Obstacles to Improving Lebanon’s Human Rights Record | إستحالة الإصلاح؟ العوائق أمام تحسين سجل لبنان في حقوق الإنسان

Invitation to a Roundtable and Reception

IMPOSSIBLE TO REFORM?
Obstacles to Improving Lebanon’s Human Rights Record

Tuesday November 30, 2010, 16:00
at Monroe Hotel, Ain al-Mraysseh

(Beirut, November 18, 2010) – Human Rights Watch is pleased to invite you to a round table on Tuesday November 30 at 16:00 to discuss obstacles to human rights reforms in Lebanon.



The roundtable will focus on recent efforts to reform Lebanon’s record in three key areas and the obstacles that these reforms encountered:

• The right of Lebanese women to transfer citizenship to their spouses and children
• The rights of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon
• The detention of refugees and migrants after the end of their sentences

The executive director of Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth, will be in Lebanon for his first visit to the country and will be participating in the roundtable.


The roundtable will be followed by a small reception at 18h00


The roundtable will be in English and Arabic. Simultaneous translation will be provided.

To RSVP, please contact Rola Awada, Human Rights Watch, 01 447833; beirut@hrw.org

دعوة للمشاركة في طاولة مستديرة يتبعها حفل استقبال

إستحالة الإصلاح؟

العوائق أمام تحسين سجل لبنان في حقوق الإنسان

الثلاثاء، 30 تشرين الثاني،2010 ،الساعة الرابعة ب.ظ.

فندق مونرو، عين المريسة

(بيروت، 18، تشرين الثاني، 2010) – يسرّ هيومن رايتس ووتش دعوتكم للمشاركة في طاولة مستديرة، يوم الثلاثاء، 30 تشرين الثاني،2010 ،الساعة الرابعة بعد الظهر في فندق مونرو، عين المريسة، لمناقشة العوائق أمام إصلاحات حقوق الإنسان في لبنان.

سيتركّز النقاش حول جهود لبنان الأخيرة لإصلاح سجلّه الحقوقي في ثلاثة مجالات أساسية والعوائق التي واجهت هذه الإصلاحات:

- حق المرأة اللبنانية في منح الجنسية لزوجها وأبنائها

- حقوق اللاجئين الفلسطينيين في لبنان

- إحتجاز اللاجئين والأجانب بعد إنتهاء محكومياتهم

سيشارك في الجلسة كينيث روس، المدير التنفيذي لـ هيومن رايتس ووتش، في أول زيارة له إلى لبنان.

سيتبع طاولة النقاش حفل إستقبال صغير عند الساعة السادسة بعد الظهر.

ستستخدم اللغتين الإنكليزية والعربية في الطاولة المستديرة مع توفّر الترجمة الفورية.

beirut@hrw.org <mailto:beirut@hrw.org> لتسجيل الحضور، لطفاً الإتصال بـ رولا عواضة، هيومن رايتس ووتش، 447833-01،

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Al Jazeera article: Lebanon MPs debate Palestinian refugee rights

Image Caption: Jumblatt, the Druze leader, backs the proposed law to grant Palestinian refugees basic rights [EPA]

Lebanon's parliament has tabled a proposal to offer basic rights to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees.

The proposed legislation - the subject of a heated debate on Tuesday - would allow Palestinian refugees to work and own property in Lebanon. Nabih Berri, the parliament speaker, referred the bill to a committee for a one-month review.

Palestinian refugees have long been a controversial subject in Lebanon, and the debate cut across Lebanon's usual political alliances.

Saad Hariri, the Lebanese prime minister, supports the new legislation - as do Hezbollah and Amal, two of his chief rivals from the so-called March 8 alliance.

Walid Jumblatt, the Druze politician and head of the Progressive Socialist Party, also endorsed the bill.

"The Palestinian refugees have been waiting [for] 62 years, and we are not granting them the minimum of their rights," he said.

Christian concerns

A group of Christian parties, including the Phalange party and Lebanese Forces, opposed the measure, warning that it was a first step towards naturalising Lebanon's refugee population.

They worry that Palestinian refugees might eventually become Lebanese citizens. Most are Sunni Muslims, so their naturalisation would tip Lebanon's sectarian balance.

Sami Gemayel, a member of the Phalange party, said it would be unconstitutional.

The constitution includes a provision barring the "settlement of non-Lebanese in Lebanon".

"The Palestinian matter is a disputed issue, and a source of fear," Elie Marouni, an MP from the Phalange party, said.

Jumblatt called that position "stupid" and criticised "right-wing parties" for failing to distinguish between granting rights to Palestinian refugees and offering them citizenship.

The refugees are planning several major protests across Lebanon on June 27 to demand civil rights.

Crowded camps

More than 400,000 Palestinian refugees live in camps scattered across Lebanon. They do not enjoy the same rights as Lebanese citizens: refugees are barred from owning property, working, travelling overseas and receiving basic social services from the government.

The crowded camps have given rise to several armed groups. The Lebanese army fought a three-month battle in 2007 with one group, Fatah al-Islam, at the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp near Tripoli. More than 400 people, including dozens of civilians, were killed in the fighting.

Hariri said the poor conditions in the camps helped to create such groups.

"Should we deprive Palestinian refugees in Palestinian camps of their rights, so that they become terrorists in the future?" Hariri said during the parliamentary debate. "We have a historic opportunity to vote on this proposal."

But the proposal is controversial within Hariri's Future bloc too.

"Do not give to them [Palestinian refugees] the rights which are given to the Lebanese people," Atef Majdanani, a Future Movement MP, said.

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LEBANON: Palestinian Refugees Face Systematic Discrimination In Lebanon

By: Simba Russeau

Beirut - Denied access to social services, education, adequate housing and employment, Palestinian refugees in Lebanon continue to suffer discrimination, marginalization and treatment as “second-class citizens.”

More than half of the 400,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon have been forced to live in segregated ghettos since they were forced to flee their lands and homes to Lebanon after the creation of Israel in 1948.

“All the Palestinians just want security, freedom and justice,” says Fatima, a local resident of the Nahr Al Bared refugee camp. “What happened to my grandfather, my father and my brother is happening to us now. Do the youth have to experience the same situation as our parents?”

Daily life for Palestinians involves dealing with the pains of living in exile and the systematic discrimination they face in Lebanon.

“We are homeless from our country so let us live with freedom and safety. Is this treatment only for the Palestinian people? Is it because the Palestinians don’t have a leader? It’s a shame,” she adds.

All 12 of the official refugee camps in Lebanon suffer from inadequate infrastructure, overcrowding, poverty and high unemployment.

“Lebanon has one of the highest percentage of Palestinian refugees who are living in abject poverty and who are registered with the Agency’s ‘special hardship’ programme,” the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Rights in the Near East (UNRWA) issued in a press statement.

Lebanon, as a member of the Arab League, officially recognizes the State of Palestine. However, the reciprocity law, which permits foreigners to work in Lebanon if they are nationals of a State that opens their labour market to Lebanese nationals, has created obstacles for Palestinians in finding employment due to their stateless status.

“The continuing restrictions which deny Palestinian refugees access to their rights to work, education and adequate housing and health are wholly unjustified and should be lifted without further procrastination or delay,” says Amnesty International.

At a press conference in Beirut last week, Amnesty International (AI) released a new 31-page report, “Exiled and Suffering: Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.” In the report, Amnesty International urged the Lebanese government to fully protect and uphold the basic human rights of Palestinian refugees.

“We urge the Lebanese government to take immediate measures to eliminate all forms of discrimination against Palestinian refugees in order to enable them to exercise their economic, social and cultural rights on the same basis as the rest of the population of Lebanon.”

In 2005, the Lebanese government lifted a ban on 50 of the 70 professions declared off-limits to Palestinians but only a few can afford the $700 needed for work permits.

“Palestinians are spending not lest than a $1000 a month in Lebanon while Syrians, Egyptians, Sri Lankis and Filipinos do not spend their money here. They collect their salary and send it to their country. They eat with the family they work for,” says Samira Salah, Director of the Communities for Civil Rights Campaign. “We are trying to remind the Lebanese government of how integrating Palestinians into the Lebanese society contributes to the local economy.”

Heightened Tensions

Since the 15-week Nahr Al Bared clashes, which displaced over 30,000 residents and killed more than 400 people, many Palestinians have reported being abused and threatened by soldiers at checkpoints on account of their identity.

“What is happening is that the Lebanese Army and the internal security forces are basically looking upon Palestinians as a threat,” says Rania Masri, Assistant professor in the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Balamand in Lebanon.

Many Lebanese blame the Palestinians for allowing Fatah al-Islam into Nahr Al Bared and warned that reconstruction and their return could reignite similar violence. However, some analysts believe that there will be a renewed cooperation in the reconstruction effort.

“This is the first time that the Palestinian leadership is working with the Lebanese government to improve security in the camps. This should turn a new page in the history of Palestinian-Lebanese relations in Lebanon and ease hostilities of the civil war years,” says Paul Salem, Director of the Carnegie Middle East Center. “This should also coax the Lebanese government to grant Palestinian refugees in Lebanon social and economic rights.”

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