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Ministerial ban on recruiting MWDWs outside official job description

2-6-2021

In light of MWDWs dire situation, since the outbreak of the financial-economic crisis (https://lkdg.org/ar/node/20153), Minister of Labor, Lamia Yamin, issued a directive on May 31 banning employers from recruiting migrant women domestic workers outside the legitimate job description agreed by the ministry under penalty of strict measures. Based on the above directive, and in order to fulfill the contractual terms of MWDWs work contracts, new employers are asked to submit a request for settlement to the ministry within a period of 6 months from the date of the ministry’s. The submitted request should include all required documents namely: A request specifying the name of the concerned migrant worker, a copy of the worker’s passport, a copy of the work permit, copies of the employer’s papers (ID, register of commerce…) and papers of the MWDW’s residence address. The submitted file should include work permits for MWDWs who obtained the approval of the labor minister to settle their status, as well as an assurance by employers to commit to subject laws as well as health and safety conditions of the worker and avoid any form of forced labor. The minister’s order will only apply to all those entering Lebanese territory legally, and this needs to be supported by a document released by the General Directorate of General Security to this end. (AL Diyar, An Nahar, May 31, 2021)

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Early marriage increasing in Lebanon in light of the economic crisis, pandemic and the absence of a unified personal status law

18-5-2021

The economic financial crisis, coupled with the coronavirus and the absence of a unified personal status law, has led to an increase in the rate of early marriages in Lebanon, according to a feature by German Deutsche Welle built on the findings delivered by a number of human rights organizations involved with children’s rights in the country. On the subject, UNICEF’s chief of child protection in Lebanon, Johanna Eriksson, said that based on the organization’s hands-on observations and the data it shared with local partners, it was found that as a result of worsening economic conditions, child marriage is on the surge, calling it a defeatist practice of adaptation. The finding was also supported by Plan International. Similarly, Save the Children-Lebanon Farah Salhab pointed to a direct association between the coronavirus and child marriage increase, explaining that online learning, which has proved unworkable for many children, has prompted many girls to drop out of school. Salhab cited a number of children saying that they have been forced to marry after leaving high school. Salhab mentioned a report put out by the Organization last March on the influence of Covid-19 on child marriage, which warned that the virus puts at risk of marriage some 10 million underage girls during the next 10 years. For its part, Plan International indicated that Covid-19 enforced school closures could increase by 25% chances of forced child marriages. Likewise, a UNICEF study conducted before the crisis (between 2015 and 2016), has shown that child marriage rates were highly concentrated in refugee communities. Nearly 20% of female Palestinian refugees from Lebanon and another 25% of female Palestinian refugees displaced from Syria, have married before the age of 18, compared to only 6% among the Lebanese girls, the report said, citing researchers who stated that the phenomenon is currently growing rapidly outside of the refugee populations. Re personal status laws in Lebanon, the UNICEF study pointed out that due to the absence of a unified personal status law, each of the 18 recognized religious groups in the country sets its own rules on the legal age to marry, from 14 for Catholics , 18 for members of the Greek Orthodox Church, and 18 for the Sunni sect, according to the new amendments issued by supreme religious authority for Sunni community, which raised the age of marriage to 18 year for both males and females, and to 15 year in certain exceptional cases, and which were published in the Official Gazette on April 22. In response to the amendments, Justice Minister Marie Claude Najm tweeted stating, that notwithstanding her strong commitment to a secular state which will regulate all personal status matters, she generally lauds the Islamic Sharia Council decision. (Al Diyar, May 13, 2021, Deutsche Welle)

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Arab women fight normalization with Israel and score achievements (except in Lebanon!)

15-4-2021

The Women led Campaign to Boycott Israeli Goods organized on March 26 a virtual activity via Zoom entitled, “Women in Arab Countries… Against Normalization”, to mark the Israeli Apartheid Week . The campaign stressed in a statement on the occasion, that despite the accelerated pace on part of some Arab countries towards normalizing ties with the apartheid Zionist entity, the resisting people of those countries uncompromisingly oppose the normalization of relations and are keen to confront the US Administration and Zionists’ plans, voicing their solidarity and support for the national liberation struggle. On the other hand, and in a special feature on March 20, Al Diyar daily wrote about the reality of Lebanese women, mentioning a political trend that discourages ambitious women from seeking decision making positions, despite their established skills and successes in all areas. On the subject, the newspaper spoke to Fadia Kiwan, the general director of the Arab Women Organization, who drew a comparison between Lebanese and Arab women in politics. Women’s political representation in Lebanon is still weak, Kiwan explained, which is incongruous, given the image of Lebanon in the Arab countries as a liberal state with respect to women and their achievements in all fields. The majority of Arab countries have made great strides in this regard, starting with Iraq back in the year 1959, which witnessed the appointment of the first female minister, up to the present day, where the foreign minister in the new Libyan government is a woman, according to Kiwan. Kiwan attributed the weak participation of Lebanese women in political decision making to the current context, noting for example, that a female minister is appointed by the president of her political bloc or chief, which leaves a small margin for her unrestricted professional performance. Kiwan also cited the flawed political structure in the country through which women in Lebanon reach positions of power, and wich in order to access politics power force them to subject to political confessionalism. March 20, 24, 2021)

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Marking April 13th: Nationality Campaign demands an end to discrimination against women

15-4-2021

My Nationality is a Right for Me and My Family Campaign issued a statement to mark the start of the Civil War on April 13 and which went one from 1975 to1990. Forty six years later and after the destruction and massacres caused by religious tension, this same sectarianism continues to deny Lebanese women the right to pass citizenship to their families, the statement said. The Campaign launched a #stopdailywar hashtag decrying various forms and practices of war, including sectarianism and demographic divisions, etc, manipulated by the patriarchal political system which blogs legal reforms. It is the daily confrontation of Lebanese women with the discriminatory outdated nationality law (1925), a war that violates the rights of women within the same state, by giving men the right to confer nationality to their children and family members while denying women this same right. My Nationality Campaign director, Karima Chebbo, said that throughout the campaign’s struggle with the political authorities to change the bigoted law, parties objecting to this right adopted narratives that are nowhere near the principles of human rights. These largely endorsed or focused on the “nationality of the husband, the nationality of children, religion and sect” and later on used the pathetic excuse or justification of “demographic distribution” or “sectarian balance” to this end, stressing that the Campaign demands a legally enforced right without discrimination or exception. Chebbo also addressed a group of politicians who boast “that the concerns of some Lebanese factions should be respected”, stating that desecrating the rights of women is what should worry them. They have a duty to endorse and consecrate all these rights and lift the injustices rampant in the Lebanese laws, hence ensuring everyone enjoys their rights without preferences based on religion, ethnicity, sect, color or nationality. On the other hand, the General Directorate of General Security announced in a statement, that as part of its surveillance efforts to uncover persons or networks active in the forgery of foreign passports, it successfully arrested a member of these rings. It also seized fake passports and IDs, in addition to entry and departure stamps of different fraudulent border crossings, the statement said, revealing that these illicit networks and predators had developed fictitious methods of luring victims through deceptive advertisements on social media for obtaining a second passport or residence in exchange for huge sums of money. The GS statement warned all citizens and foreigners residing in Lebanon against falling into their trap by calling 1717 or reporting to the nearest GS center. (Al Diyar, April 7, My Nationality campaign Facebook page).

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Women in household create new livelihoods

7-4-2021

In light of the economic-financial crisis and Covid-19, household-women of Lebanon are seeking new sources of home-based livelihoods in order to alleviate the present economic crisis, especially after the collapse of the national currency and the 80% erosion of salaries. Al Akhbar daily brought to light the stories of a group of women who set up their own businesses, including Umm Ali, 30, who turned her house into a nursery to assist her husband who works at a restaurant. From the LBP 750,000 she makes every month, Umm Ali buys the basics for her family. Wafaa Balhas, 35, from Siddiqin in the South, invested in the land adjacent to her house, when her husband’s aluminum installation business was severely hit by the pandemic. Wafaa is growing moolookhiya, and lately has added fava beans, green peas and onions that are being planted in a leased plot of land, that she then sells in the market of her town. Jumana Qteish, married to a taxi driver, lamented that her husband spends all his earnings on the car mechanics. Boasting to Al Akhbar reporter, she said she decided to sell liquid laundry detergents online, where she buys one gallon for LBP 22,000 and sells it for LBP 25,000. Market prices, Jumana added, are negatively affected by the rise of the dollar, thus often eroding her mere LBP 3,000 profit margin. Likewise, Umm Jawad, 50, has put her cooking skills to work, and started preparing take-away meals and dishes, like kibbeh, cakes and maamoul for the Eid, in addition to the Lebanese mezze recipes. Work is tough and income little, Umm Jawad said, yet it covers some basic necessities. As for Fatmeh Ibrahim, 24, she took advantage of her soap making skills, which she acquired during a training workshop in order to start a business which allows her to attend to three children at home. (The news feature can be found on the following link: https://al-akhbar.com/Community/303135). (Al Akhbar, April 1, 2021)

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The ordeal of migrant domestic workers: Judicial system also to blame

6-4-2021

In light of the sharp decline in foreign workforce, particularly in the number of migrant women domestic workers (MWDWs), as a result of the financial and economic crisis, combined with the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing ill-treatment of MWDW, (https://lkdg.org/ar/node/20188), a study published by the Legal Agenda revealed that judicial work also contributed to the above injustices. A recent report drafted by the Legal Agenda in collaboration with ILO, entitled, “The labyrinth of justice: Migrant domestic workers before Lebanon’s courts” (https://bit.ly/2Op08MJ), examined court decisions and judgments related to MWDWs during 2013-2017 and concluded that the Lebanese Judiciary approach to similar cases is stereotypical and influenced by prejudice. According to the above study, the judiciary system has assumed standardized methods in pronouncing verdicts, using illegal terms or terminology, (such as flee instead of escape, etc), and in conducting investigation, when it viewed the privacy of the worker as potential accusation, and that any action outside the direct employer-worker relationship, including the MWDW’s day-off as a suspicious criminal intent, or when it considers her escapade as a circumstantial evidence for theft. All this without studying the possibility of abuse or ill-treatment by employers against the migrant domestic worker. The study indicated that during the above mentioned period some 693 verdicts were issued in absentia (nearly 91%) against only 68 judgments in presence (9%). The reported reason for this is that the public prosecution delegated regulating the affairs of many MWDWs to the General Security Directorate, which is usually resolved by settling the migrant worker’s conditions in terms of legal papers or the relationship with the employer or by deportation to evade prosecution, or in other words evading the crime. This transgression, the report added, is reinforced by the kafala (sponsorship) system that ties legitimate residency to the work contract. The report in conclusion stressed the need to refer the case of the worker living in Lebanon to the court to ensure her case is heard, before assigning it to the GS to decide whether to deport her or not. This will allow the judiciary to attest the reasons for alleged violations on part of the worker and determine the employer’s stake in causing this violation, directly or indirectly. Meanwhile, Al Akhbar newspaper voiced concern over an increasing rate of abuse against migrant domestic workers with the intensification of the crisis in the country, noting that the papers of some 100,000 MWDWs have been renewed during 2020, against 50,000 workers who have been deported. The reason for this concern, Al Akhbar wrote, is that while work contracts specify the payment should be in US dollars, it is difficult for employers to commit in light of the exacerbating financial crunch. (Al Akhbar, April 5, 202)

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136 years to bridge the gender gap widened by Covid-19

6-4-2021

A report on the gender gap index for 2021 published Wednesday by the World Economic Forum (WEF) said the Covid-19 pandemic has rolled back a lot of the progress and efforts made so far to achieve parity between men and women, predicting it will now take around 135.6 years, globally, to this effect. Noting, that the previous WEF report issued in December 2019 before the onset of the pandemic indicated that reaching gender equality in different arenas will take 99.5 years. The said report examines the gender gap in some 156 countries across four indicators: education, health, political empowerment and economic opportunity. Accordingly, the largest gender gap, nearly 40% percent, is found in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa that are witnessing slow progress in terms of equality, and it will take about 142 years to bridge that gap. Nordic countries, namely Iceland and Finland topped the list of the most gender-equal countries in the world, followed by Norway and New Zealand. And while countries like the United Arab Emirates, Togo and Serbia, have witnessed a remarkable progress in this regard, other Arab countries, Iran, Turkey and a number of African states ranked last. In conclusion, the WEF report stressed that another generation of women will have to wait to reach parity due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. (The report in English can be found on the following link: https://bit.ly/3mp9i8D).

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Women's action against Jaafari courts, calls for reform of laws

29-3-2021

On the occasion of Mother’s Day, the National Campaign to Raise Children’s Custody Age within the Shiite Community launched the “Mothers’ Initiative” aimed to alleviate the suffering of women in Jaafari courts. The initiative, according to Zeina Ibrahim, president of the campaign, does not involve changing laws or legal Fatwas, but is based on endorsing the fatwa of a notable religious authority in each sect, which stipulates that a woman has the right of custody of her children until the age of seven. Ibrahim told Al Akhbar that the fatwa should provide for a “joint custody”, demanding a 4-day right of visitation instead of 24 hours. On the occasion, mothers deprived of custody of their children staged a sit-in in front of the Supreme Islamic Shia Council to remind authorities of their cause and to request a change of the age of custody. Also, “Sarkhat Nisaa’ Al Janub” and “Tyre Uprising” groups organized a rally in front of the Jaafari Court in Tyre demanding an amendment of the custody laws and stressing the right of the Lebanese woman to pass nationality to her children. Meanwhile, in the latest unfair judgment against women, Jaafari Judge, Sheikh Jaafar Kawtharani, disclaimed earlier this month, the right of Vera Aql in the custody of her daughter, 6 years, revoking the temporary custody she received from the court in 2019 following her husband’s travel and residence outside Lebanon, and decided to grant custody to the child’s grandfather (on the father’s side). On the other hand, the head of the Sharia Court of the Supreme Islamic Shia Council, Ali Makki, stressed the visitation right for the mother denied child custody which reduced parenting time to 24 hours, is wide of the mark, denying the existence of any such sharia document to this effect. In an interview with Nabatiyeh Facebook page last Monday, Makki said he advised courts to thoroughly understand the texts, specifically the definition and meaning of custody. He explained that the determination of child custody is not final, underlining the importance of joint custody. He mentioned abusing loopholes in the court system, in form and practice, since the sixties of the past century, and the need for a reform law passed by the Legislature. Makki said, that he, in agreement with the head of the Supreme Islamic Shia Council, has submitted a proposal for reform of the Jaafari court system. For her part, the president of the Mother and Child Parliamentary Committee, MP Inaya Ezzedine, denied to Al Akhbar the presence of a Joint Custody initiative or the amendment of the visitation rights for mothers. The Committee, she said, welcomes any reform plans in this regard, insisting on the need for equal parenting and caregiving. (Al Akhbar, Al Diyar, March 23, 25, 2021)

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Plight of migrant workers in Lebanon: meager salary, difficulty in accessing dollars, longing for home

29-3-2021

The financial and economic crisis, combined with the corona pandemic, and the on-going abuse and ill-treatment, have together contributed to the hardships of migrant workers in Lebanon, leading to an acute shortage in foreign labor, namely in the number of migrant women domestic workers (MWDWs). Among the current difficulties MWDWs are facing, include a sharp decline in the value of salaries which were originally low, and have depreciated further with the soaring exchange rate of the dollar, losing nearly 80% of their value. Employers paid workers in Lebanese pounds at the lowest official exchange rate, LBP 1515 for the USD, which created a real problem for those workers, including Roxanne, Bengali national, who told Al Akhbar that she was preparing to return to her homeland, as she no longer can secure the USD 5 hourly pay she used to receive. Another worker, Baki, wept while grieving the deteriorating purchasing power as is the case in her home country. On the other hand, the Ethiopian domestic worker, Mimi, who returned home months ago, described to the newspaper’s reporter how she was forced to work without pay for months because her employer lacked hard currency, mentioning the manipulation and abuse she was subjected to. Other foreign workers, men and women, from Egypt and Bangladesh, complained about the trouble changing their salaries from Lebanese Lira to dollars to transfer to their families, decrying the deceit of employers who promised to pay them in hard currency and ended up receiving their salaries in lira. In light of this suffering, many migrant workers seek to leave Lebanon, as shown in the statistics published by Information International indicating a slump in the Arab and foreign workforce in the country corresponding to a shrinking number of entry permits (by 83%) during 2020. And according to Information International, the total decline rate in the number of workers was clearly associated with the nationality of labor. Workers from Ghana, for example, topped the list of departees, mostly from MWDWs, (the total number dropped from 11,539 entry passes in 2019 to 706 passes in 2020). Secondly, came the Bengali workers, particularly MWDWs and cleaning workers (dropped from 5,922 entry passes in 2019 to only 867 in 2020). Ethiopian nationals came in the third place, namely MWDWs, (from 16,848 entry passes in 2019 to 2,838 in 2020), and finally came the Filipino MWDWs (from around 5,165 entry passes in 2019 to only 706 in 2020). Apparently, there is slackness on part of the Lebanese authorities in addressing the plight of foreign labor, which was narrowed to collaborating with consulates during the pandemic to facilitate the return of workers. (https://bit.ly/3fn48Zr). (Al Akhbar, March 24, 2021)

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On Mother's Day: Women march, tweet and greet

22-3-2021

On the occasion of Mother’s Day which falls on March 21, women took to the streets on Saturday and Sunday in several Lebanese areas to protest the alarming economic, living, social and health situation, in addition to the ongoing emigration of Lebanon’s youth. On Saturday, a feminist march was organized in commemoration of the victims of the Beirut Port blast, from the neighborhood of Sodeco to Martyrs Square up to the Port area. Concurrently, a demonstration took off from Zuk Mosbeh-Keserwan area towards the capital under the motto “Should mothers lose hope, homeland is in danger”, where demonstrators marched through Bchara Khoury, Fouad Chehab, Saifi and the Port areas. A similar feminist protest took off from Mina Downtown area in Tripoli to Abdel Hamid Karami Square, while another peaceful demonstration was organized last Sunday by Iqlim Kharoub Mothers from Barja intersection to Al Jiyyeh Municipality. On the other hand, several politicians tweeted greeting mothers on their day, notably MP Nazih Najm who wrote, mothers are the only source of reassurance in a country of difficulties with unprecedented scope. He hoped politicians look after their people like mothers look after their children. Nazik Hariri, for her part, appealed to all, leaders and the public, to work harder to empower women and activate their role in society. Al Diyar newspaper, in turn, published a feature today on the reality of Lebanese women, stating that the patriarchal culture in the country is no longer a secret. It decried the imprudence of the media and the insolence of politicians, combined with the bigoted personal status laws and the loopholes in the application and implementation of civil codes. On the subject, Al Diyar spoke to human rights activist, Wahib Fayyad, who stressed that the sectarian system which created autonomous laws for each sect, particularly in the personal status area, has rendered women prisoners of discriminatory practices supported by such laws based on the outdated Ottoman family law. Fayyad said the solution to achieving full gender equality is supported by two pillars: the continuous struggle of women to substantiate their rights and aptitudes, and the enactment of a comprehensive civil personal status law that eliminates legal disparities between men and women. (Al Diyar, March 21, 22, 2021)

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