WITH only the clothes on her back and a toothbrush in her pocket, Mariney, a Mexican-American NGO worker, flew from Beirut to Cyprus in April. It was a routine visa run made by many expatriates in Lebanon before the expiry of their two-month “tourist" visas, which are free on arrival. But when Mariney was clearing customs, security officials told her she would not be allowed to return to Lebanon.
Two months earlier Mariney’s employer, a Chicago-based human rights organisation, had started the paperwork to get Mariney a work visa. That led to months of back-and-forth exchanges with a disorganised and overwhelmed Lebanese bureaucracy, ending in nothing but flagging up Mariney to the authorities.
Thousands of Westerners live and work in Lebanon, but few have residency, work permits or pay tax thanks to the cost and time it takes to obtain. Lebanon has largely turned a blind eye to it. But tales of deportation are becoming more common, especially among journalists and aid workers.
Aid workers worry they may be being targeted thanks to the growing enmity to hosting Syrian refugees, who number over 1m. In June the government said it would limit the number of Syrians arriving and strip status from those who made visits home.
New rules now require foreigners engaged in humanitarian work to obtain visas before entering the country rather than alter them once there as used to be the case. Agencies have been instructed to inform the security agency of all foreigners working in their offices, including staff, volunteers, interns, and people visiting Lebanon for training or meetings. Officials have begun visiting NGO offices asking them to comply with the new regulations—or risk their staff being deported.
NGOs say that they want to obey the law, but that the process of obtaining a visa is unpredictable and cumbersome. It costs thousands of dollars, requires much paperwork, and takes months. Smaller organisations say the burden is too much. “If they want me to pay, I don’t mind. Just give me the documents,” says Kris, a founder of a non-profit hostel in Beirut who was recently deported. Kris submitted his residency and work permit applications in December but six months later he was told to leave Lebanon and escorted by security officers to the gate for his flight.
Mariney finally received a residency permit on August 1st. Resettled in Beirut over five months after first applying, she reckons that staying on a tourist visa would have been less of a hassle than trying to abide by the law. Many agree, but tighter restrictions now make that a riskier option.
