Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri heads a parliamentary session at UNESCO Palace in Beirut, Lebanon October 28, 2021. (Credit: Aziz Taher/Reuters)
BEIRUT — Children whose mothers are Lebanese but whose fathers are not were excluded from a bill approved by the Lebanese Parliament on Thursday, which allocated LL500 billion to support families in paying the fees of students in primary and secondary level private schools.
Members of the Lebanese Parliament convened yesterday to consider 35 draft laws and proposals, including a proposal to support Lebanese students in private schools for the academic year 2019-2020.
But advocates have cried foul because the proposal excluded a segment of students who are Lebanese by blood but not recognized as such by the state. Lebanese women cannot typically pass on their citizenship to their children under Lebanese law; whereas children of Lebanese men married to non-Lebanese women obtain Lebanese citizenship.
During Thursday’s session, before it was adjourned following a contentious debate over the electoral law, MP Rola Tabsh (Future Movement/Beirut II) raised the issue of the funds being allocated exclusively for Lebanese children and excluding children of Lebanese mothers and non-Lebanese fathers.
In response, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri asked Tabsh to take a seat, saying that the Parliament had “more important issues to discuss” and adding that Prime Minister Najib Mikati had to leave the session early in order to catch a flight.
Lebanese women married to non-Lebanese men have faced difficulties in enrolling their children in public elementary and secondary institutions, where they are often required to wait until children with Lebanese nationality complete their registration before getting a spot. Advocates described the parliamentary slight as another example of discrimination.
The Lebanese Women’s Right to Nationality and Full Citizenship campaign issued a statement condemning the Parliament’s dismissal of the issue.
“During every legislative session, the Lebanese system exercises its patriarchal influence in every law, measure or procedure it takes. As if the already existing discriminatory laws are not enough for us to work on eliminating it, they added another law to discriminate against Lebanese mothers who are married to foreigners,” the group wrote.
Other women’s rights advocates also condemned the move by Parliament. The action “reflects on the patriarchal society we live in,” feminist activist Abir Chebaro said.
“These [Parliament] sessions should be streamed on live TV stations for people to see how women are discriminated against and how lawmakers, who are usually men, do not take this urgently because as they claim, they 'have other priorities,'” Chebaro told L'Orient Today.