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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 -10 February 1999 Issue No. 415 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 -10 February 1999 Issue No. 415
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Book Fair Economy Opinion Culture Features Living Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters On the road to civil rights
By Zeina KhodrThe decision by the Lebanese government to lift travel restrictions imposed on Palestinians living in the country has been welcomed by Palestinian groups as a step towards alleviating the hardships suffered by the refugees.
"We hope the decision will be followed by other measures aimed at reducing the suffering of the Palestinians," Ghazi Al-Assadi, member of the Palestinian Popular Committee at the Ain Al-Helweh refugee camp in Sidon, told Al-Ahram Weekly.
Most Palestinians in Lebanon hold travel documents rather than passports but the government has announced that the documents will be treated in the same way as passports.
"The decision was the result of consultations between President Emile Lahoud and Prime Minister Selim Al-Hoss," a government statement said. It stressed that the decision was taken to "facilitate and speed up travel procedures for the Palestinians."
The government said the decision would come into effect after the necessary paperwork was complete and security arrangements were put in place.
The decision was made days after Farouk Kaddoumi, head of the PLO's political department, travelled to Beirut to hold talks with officials. However, a Palestinian source said Kaddoumi had not played any role in the government's decision. "The decision was taken a long time ago but it was only given the green light now," the source told the Weekly. "Palestinian groups have been lobbying hard for the restrictions to be lifted and the authorities realised it would be to their detriment to keep the restrictions in place."
The restrictions were imposed in September 1995 to stem the flow of Palestinians deported by Libya in protest against the signing of the Oslo peace accords by Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Libyan Leader Colonel Moammar Gaddafi expelled 30,000 Palestinian residents that year. As a result, Lebanon stipulated that Palestinians would have to apply for a visa before entering the country. This included the estimated 350,000 refugees residing in Lebanon. It was, however, almost impossible for Palestinians living in Lebanon to be granted visas from Lebanese embassies abroad.
The various Palestinian factions have praised the new Lebanese government for trying to improve the conditions of the refugees. "The new leaders [Lahoud and Hoss] realised the restrictions were unjust and decided to get rid of them. Furthermore, the conditions under which they were imposed don't exist anymore," said Assadi.
Mohammed Yassin, an official of the Palestinian Liberation Front In Lebanon, said the new leadership recognised peace was not around the corner and decided to try to improve the living conditions of the Palestinians. "The previous government thought the peace process was reaching its final stage and the fate of millions of refugees, including those living in Lebanon, would be resolved. They kept a tight grip on the Palestinians to ensure they wouldn't want to stay," Yassin told the Weekly.
"The Syrians, Lebanese and Palestinians are trying to improve the relations between them, in an attempt to face the regional challenges created by the US and Israel," Abu Fadi Raji, an official of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in Lebanon told the Weekly. "Further moves would help improve relations between the Palestinians and their host country. If the Palestinians were granted their civil and social rights, they would be able to play an important role in reviving the Lebanese economy," he said.
A Palestinian source told the Weekly that there are indications the Lebanese government is changing its stance towards the Palestinians. The source added that after the announcement to ease the travel restriction, the ban on bringing construction material into the Rachidiyeh refugee camp in Tyre was lifted, and the number of soldiers posted around camps in Sidon was reduced. Construction work inside the camps was previously restricted and regulated by the government.
There are almost 350,000 registered Palestinians in Lebanon who are denied basic government services, such as health and education, and are banned from 75 professions. As a result, they mainly find work in the low-paid sectors. Sources said the lifting of the travel restrictions may be followed by an easing of limitations imposed on the Palestinian workforce.
The Lebanese government has long argued that granting the Palestinians civil and social rights would encourage them to stay in the country. But the Palestinians maintain that they just want to have a decent lifestyle and have no intention of resettling on Lebanese soil. There is a political consensus to deny the Palestinians the right to settle in Lebanon permanently. This largely stems from the fact that most of the Palestinians are Sunni Muslims and the country's Christians have long feared a shift in sectarian demography.
