Lebanon is deporting locally born children of migrant workers and in some cases their mothers, says a report of Human Rights Watch.
The report has been made on the information provided by nine nongovernmental organisations working in Lebanon.
According to the HRW report, a recent decision by General Security, Lebanon’s security agency in charge of foreigners’ entry and residency, to deny residency permit renewals for a number of low-wage migrants who have had children in Lebanon and for their children disproportionately interferes with the right to family life.
Since May 2014, nearly a dozen female migrant workers, many of them longstanding residents of Lebanon, reported to human rights groups that when they went to General Security to renew residency papers for themselves and their children, they were turned down.
Some were told they were not allowed to have children in Lebanon and given a short period of time to leave the country. In some cases, they said, they were given as little as 48 hours.
“Under General Security’s new directive some families are being torn apart while others are apparently being denied their livelihoods simply because they’ve had children in Lebanon,” said Nadim Houry, Middle East and North Africa deputy director at Human Rights Watch.
“The Lebanese authorities have not given any justification for this new policy and should immediately revoke this directive as it interferes with the rights to family life.”
Under Lebanese residency regulations, certain categories of low-wage migrants, particularly domestic workers, are not allowed to sponsor residency for their spouses or children.
However, in the past, Lebanon-born children of the migrants could apply for a year-long residency up until age four and then could apply for residency if they enrolled in school.
Most of the migrants who reported the problem have lived in Lebanon for more than a decade. All had given birth in Lebanon since moving there to work. None said that they previously had any problems getting residency permits for themselves or their children.
Many of these migrants come from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Ghana, South Sudan, and Madagascar. It is unclear how many families have been affected, however certain migrant community leaders reported that the decision has affected many of their members.
Based on research by the organisations, all migrant workers interviewed who were affected by the decision so far appear to be women who are Category 3 and 4 workers under Lebanon’s labour regulations – low-paid workers in industries such as sanitation, agriculture, and domestic work.
Human rights lawyers told the organisations that these women would be able to get a series of year-long residency permits without charge for children born in Lebanon up to age four.
Once the child enrolled in school at age four, the mother could apply to extend residency to the child provided that she remained lawfully in Lebanon and produced necessary documents verifying school enrollment.
However, General Security’s website now states that the residency of children studying in Lebanon whose parents are classified as Category 3 or 4 workers are subject to a case-by-case decision by General Security.
The website does not indicate upon what grounds the decision will be made.
This decision, which appears to expel migrant workers with children on the grounds that they have started a family in Lebanon, contravenes Lebanon’s international human rights obligations under the human rights treaties to which it is party, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
Lebanon’s obligations under CERD, including to non-citizens in its territory, requires it to avoid “disproportionate interference with the right to family life.”
The new directive and its implementation result in disproportionate interference in family life, in particular the separation of families through expulsion.
The CRC requires countries to “ensure that a child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will, except when... such separation is necessary for the best interests of the child.”
The Lebanese government should comply with its international obligations by ensuring that General Security considers the family interests involved before rejecting the renewal of residency for workers or their children or considering their expulsion, opined the rights watch dog.
