Source: France24
A friend of mine asked me a question the other day that was quite troubling: Are there any swimming pools in Lebanon that allow helpers or house keepers to swim?
The sad truth is that there aren’t any that I know of as that most beach resorts and private pools in Lebanon ban house keepers and nannies from swimming or getting anywhere near the pool. Their “pathetic” argument is that some clients are not comfortable with the idea of swimming next to a maid or even worse a “black person”.
Needless to say, this is a clear violation of human rights but the sad part is that the concerned ministries never bothered to look into these pool regulations. Few days ago, the Lebanese Ministry of Labor issued a statement warning private pool owners from such discriminatory practices and pledged to take the necessary actions but we all know it’s just cheap talk.
Every summer, it’s the same story and nothing is ever done. If the Labor minister or any other concerned minister are serious about their warning, I suggest they take their house keepers and helpers and confront these beach resorts face to face.
It’s a shame that we are even talking about this matter.
صدر عن وزارة العمل البيان التالي: “تبلغت دوائر وزارة العمل ان عددا من المسابح حظرت دخول العاملات في الخدمة المنزلية اليها، سواء كانوا مع العائلات التي يعملن لديها، او بصورة افرادية اثناء عطلتهن الاسبوعية.
ان وزارة العمل تعتبر قرار المسابح مس فاضح بحقوق الانسان، وهو ما تلفت الوزارة النظر الى خطورته، وستقوم باتخاذ الاجراءات القانونية الكفيلة بوضع حد لهذا الامر داعية اصحاب المسابح الى التراجع عن هذه التدابير اللاخلاقية واحترام حقوق الانسان ايا كانت جنسيته وهويته ولونه، محذرة بأنها ستتخذ الاجراءات المناسبة في حق كل من يتخلف عن ذلك.
ان وزارة العمل جادة في حماية العاملين والعاملات الاجانب المتواجدين على الاراضي اللبنانية بصورة قانونية، من منطلق تصميمها على احترام الوجه الانساني لهذه الشريحة، على قاعدة مكافحة كل اعمال الاتجار بالبشر ومكافحة التمييز بكل اوجهه لقناعتها بما التزمت به في شرعة حقوق الانسان والمواثيق والاتفاقيات الدولية ذات الصلة”.
“Pitty the nation”
I’m hoping that the rationale behind the ban is to encourage families to spend time with their children rather than passing them off to the care of their maids. Unfortunately knowing the extent of racism in Lebanon this probably isn’t the case.
Went with my son to Watergate at Le Royal last week, and was positively surprised to see foreign caregivers swimming in the pools with the kids. Told this story to some people over the weekend and the reaction was that we would probably contract some sort of fungus infection or disease from the exposure !
Actually Lazy B allows nannies to swim, I have been there couple of times this summer and have asked me while paying if the nanny will swim so they charge me and if not, she can enter free of charge. They were extremely helpful and courteous