Monday, July 07, 2014

The representative of the government of Lebanon defends Saudi regime in the annual ILO conference

"The Government member of Lebanon acknowledged the Government of Saudi Arabia’s commitment to complying with Convention No. 29, reforming the kafala system and giving effect to the principles of Convention No. 189. In his view, the Saudi Government was doing all it could and its efforts deserved the Committee’s support. There were many Lebanese migrant workers currently working in Saudi Arabia, and the only criticism his Government was aware of related to the high summer temperatures. Change needed to be progressive, otherwise it would meet with resistance and negative reactions. Furthermore, it should not be forgotten that Islamic radicalism sometimes led to heightened concerns for governments, which result-ed in the adoption of harsh security measures. The Com-mittee should not focus on a few unrepresentative cases that did not correspond to the reality on the ground." (thanks S.)