Lebanon

Dear President/ Prime Minister/Speaker of the House/ Minister of Justice:

I am writing to thank the Lebanese government for the recent introduction of new regulations to the labor law aimed at eliminating various forms of discrimination against non-Lebanese spouses of Lebanese women and their children.  The amendments will enhance the situation of many families of Lebanese women married to non-Lebanese men.  However, I am concerned that such families will still not able to access free health care and other social benefits due to their status as non-nationals.  Also of concern to me is that if the children of Lebanese mothers and non-Lebanese fathers subsequently marry non-Lebanese citizens, they are not permitted to stay in the country even if Lebanon is the only country they have ever known.  

This continuing discrimination against Lebanese women married to non-Lebanese men causes considerable anxiety and suffering to the families concerned, and I urge you to do all that you can to ensure that Lebanese citizens, male and female, are able to enjoy equal rights to confer their nationality on their spouses and children.  This would be in line with the Lebanese Constitution and also with Lebanon’s international obligations, including under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention of the Rights of the Child, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. 

Thank you for your attention.