Earlier this month, Human Rights Watch reported 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.”
This is not the first decision in Lebanon to violate foreigners’ rights and limit their freedom. After many decisions against Syrian and Palestinianrefugees, this General Security action tears migrant workers’ families apart by rejecting the renewal of residency papers of migrant workers’ children and, in some cases, the mothers as well.
“This directive was not made public,” said Lama Fakih, Syria and Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Migrant workers were surprised to find out about this decision when they tried to renew their children’s residency papers. We don’t know when this directive was issued. Migrant workers complained about it for the first time in June 2014. We tried to contact General Security to obtain a copy of the directive, but they haven’t sent it yet.”
