Why we stopped issuing work visas to Nigerians – Lebanese Ambassador
The Lebanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Houssam Diab, recently announced that the Lebanese government has stopped issuing domestic work visas to Nigerians. In this interview with our correspondent, he explains what prompted that decision. Excerpts
Daily Trust: How strong is the bilateral relation between Nigeria and Lebanon? Ambassador Houssam Diab:
Our bilateral relationship has strengthened over the years. Nigeria has adopted the Lebanese community here in Nigeria. They have opened businesses and have contributed to the development of this country. The Lebanese in Diaspora have been in Nigeria for more than 100 years and they feel Nigerian as much as they feel Lebanese and this brings the uniqueness of the Lebanese Nigerian relationship. There is a human factor that brings us all closer and that is why Nigeria has always played a major role in Lebanon through the Lebanese Diaspora.
We are close to 25000 Lebanese in Nigeria; I don’t have the exact figure but we are around that range. I have to say that the relationship between Lebanon and Nigeria has been a friendly relationship over the years and it is being strengthened by the special relationship between its people. The community is a very well established one and we try to approach our bilateral relationship through our community because at the end, human relationship is more important than official relationship.
DT: What is the level of trade between Nigeria and Lebanon?
Diab: I have to say it has not been to the level we would love it to. The bilateral trade relation is less than $50m a year but we are planning on increasing and we are currently working on six trade agreements this year with the Nigerian government. I have six proposals that I have put forward, among them is the agreement of the cooperation between the Lebanese government and Nigerian in Diaspora Commission. I also think that the private sector can play a major role in trade relationships especially the Lebanese Diaspora in Nigeria and the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM); if we bring both sides together, it will contribute a great deal to both countries.
The Lebanese in Nigeria and Africa in general are in all sectors; from construction to all the industries, as well as agriculture, so we will work with projects that exist in both countries and see how we can put together the workforce that can invest in these projects.
With the coronavirus pandemic, the world has taken another turn, priorities have shifted and we are waiting for things to go back to normal so we can act.
DT: In what ways has the coronavirus pandemic affected trade relations between both countries?
Diab: The airports are closed and you know we have a big community here in Nigeria who are also in the supermarkets and food industry. A lot of items used to come from Lebanon but all these have stopped because the aviation sector is affected.
DT: You just met with the chairman of the Nigerian in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, and one of the things you discussed was to stop giving out visa to domestic workers going to Lebanon, what prompted that decision?
Diab: As I said, the Lebanese community has been in Nigeria for more than 100 years, and family relationships and acquaintances have been formed. A lot of Nigerians go to work in Lebanon. But lately, we face a problem where some of them were abused and this has really raised concerns, so the Lebanese Government has moved in to ensure we right the wrong. We found out that a lot of Nigerians go to work as helps and the way it is done in Lebanon is that they go through an agency (all legal).
However, what happens is that the work visa is not issued by the embassy here, the agency issues the visa directly from the SecurityGeneral in Lebanon, so the work visa is issued from Lebanon to the agency and we don’t know about it at the embassy. The status of Nigerians going to Lebanon to work is legal but the problem happens at the level of the employer when they get there. It is the agency that finds them an employer and some of them when linked with the employers claim they are abused or mistreated.
But let me stress that the numbers are really small; we are talking about 77 cases in 2 years of Nigerians who were left by their employers and were not paid or suffered some form of abuse by their employers. So, the embassy got involved when we learned about it, and the Lebanese community here also financed their return and their quarantine fee.
There are only 10 Nigerians who we were not able to clear, among the 77, so they were left in Lebanon because there were cases against them but we are working on those cases to make sure they are dropped and then, we can bring them back home.
So, what we did is in order not to have more problems, I asked the Security-General in Lebanon to stop issuing work visas for Nigerian workers which took effect from May 1 this year, so we don’t have new cases. That was what we discussed with the chairman of NIDCOM and she raised the issue of the 10 Nigerians still in Lebanon and I explained to her that we are working daily on the issue till we clear them and bring them back home.
DT: With the recent outcry over a Nigerian lady abused in Lebanon, some Nigerians feel that Nigerians are not treated right in Lebanon, what do you have to say about that?
Social media travels fast these days. Yes, every life is to be respected and it doesn’t matter if the numbers are small. I advise Nigerians going to Lebanon to go through the official path - come to the embassy, get the right information; we have a consulate in Lagos, and in Kano. Don’t go directly to agencies in Nigeria, they can mislead you and then you will get into trouble. That why we have pleaded with the Security-General office in Lebanon to stop issuing all work visas in order for these agencies not to act independent of getting approval from the embassies. Now, I think the issues have been resolved.
However, I have also gotten a lot of calls from Nigerians working in Lebanon pleading with me to talk to the Nigerian government not to bring them back because they are happy where they are and they want to stay in Lebanon. So, I think this issue has been exaggerated but I feel very strongly about the cases where there have been abused and mistreated and we take it very seriously. That is why we have addressed them and have asked the Lebanese community to step in and finance their return because they should be treated in the best way possible and we want to end this social media panic where there is misinterpretation and exaggeration of the issue.
DT: You also talked about supporting FG in assisting the less privileged during this pandemic, can you elaborate on that?
Diab: At the beginning of the pandemic, we created emergency committees with the Lebanese community here, and what we have done is that the community has stepped in to make donations to the FCT ministry, to Lagos, Kano, and Rivers states. And we tried to assist the Nigerian government in the palliative measures they have taken to assist the vulnerable members of the society and vulnerable groups that are affected most by the pandemic. We have contributed in both food and financial donation and it was appreciated by the Nigerian government.
The Lebanese community feels they are as much Nigerian as they are Lebanese, and feel they should help in whatever way they feel they can. They feel it’s their duty to give back to the country that hosted them and people that adopted them.
There are only 10 Nigerians who we were not able to clear, among the 77, so they were left in Lebanon because there were cases against them but we are working on those cases to make sure they are dropped and then, we can bring them back home