Since 1948, the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon have been considered as foreigners and consequently they do not enjoy any civil rights, the most important of which is the right to work that is listed in the Universal Declaration of human Rights. The International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights to which Lebanon acceded in 1972 recognizes the right to work and the right of everyone to the opportunity to gain his living by work he freely chooses or accept.
Due to the advocacy and lobbying campaigns carried out by the Palestinian and Lebanese civil society organizations, the Lebanese Parliament introduced in August 2010, a legal amendment of article 59 of the labor Law that allowed Palestinian refugees to work. It also exempted Palestinians from applying the reciprocity law and from paying the work permit fees. This amendment did not include the professions that are organized in syndicates/ orders such as syndicates of medical doctors, engineers, nurses, pharmacists physiotherapist etc. So, all Palestinian professionals cannot be members in the related syndicate/order and consequently, they cannot work. Moreover, it has been very difficult for Palestinians to obtain work permits from the Ministry of labor. Lately, the Order of nurses decided to accept Palestinian nurses to be registered if they get permissions to practice from the Ministry of Health and their receipts proving that they applied for work permits from the Ministry of Labor. It should be mentioned that the present Minister of Health is granting Palestinian nurses the permission to practice for unlimited periods.
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PSF is planning to implement a tracer survey in order to measure the impact of PSF's loans on its beneficiaries. Moreover, it will get information about their employment status.
