Palestinian refugees have launched a third day of consecutive protests in camps across Lebanon against a government crackdown on non-Lebanese workers.
Last month Lebanon’s ministry of labor began clamping down on businesses employing foreign workers without a permit.
After a grace period expired last week it started inspections and closed non-compliant establishments, while issuing others with warnings.
Hundreds of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon protested in Beirut and around their refugee camps this week against the government's crackdown on businesses hiring foreign workers without permits. https://t.co/ZxamotZ7ez pic.twitter.com/EiynMYCRIP
— The IMEU (@theIMEU) July 17, 2019
Hundreds of Palestinian refugees staged protests on Tuesday, with residents of the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp taking to the streets and burning tires at the camp’s entrance to stop authorities from coming in.
Protests have continued into Wednesday, with demonstrators blocking entrances to Palestinian refugee camps, burning tires, and preventing the entry of food products.
Thousands of Palestinians have gone on strike in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon, The Daily Star reported. The Lebanese army was deployed overnight to clear roads and disperse protesters.
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon take part in a protest in Beirut against a recent government crackdown on Palestinian labor in the country, today. pic.twitter.com/G4ZdK9sgzf
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) July 16, 2019
Gaza-based Palestinian movement Hamas called for “the immediate end to all closures”.
Azzam al-Ahmad, from the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), discussed the measures with Lebanese officials, saying they went against Lebanese-Palestinian efforts “to organize the residency, work, and rights of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon”.
Around 174,000 Palestinian refugees live in 12 camps across the country, a one-off government census said in 2017.
Palestinian refugees in #Lebanon – between the right to live a d the right to #return.#JewishStateNakba #Israel #Palestine #FreePalestin from the river to the sea https://t.co/uZj9DgwFeB https://t.co/0uvZRr0bJh
— Rima Najjar (@rima123) July 17, 2019
In 2010, Lebanon’s parliament revoked a ban that had barred them from tens of professions for years, restricting them to jobs in fields such as construction and farming.
But Palestinians are still not permitted to work in professions reserved for Lebanese citizens such as medicine, law, the army, and the police.
(Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, PC, Social Media)
