BALADI NEWS
In a bustling district of the Lebanese capital, a government inspector issues a fine to the manager of a popular restaurant for hiring 17 Syrian refugees without work permits.
In a country brimming with foreign workers, the labour ministry is clamping down on businesses employing foreigners without the required papers.
But activists have condemned the crackdown, saying it is a pretext to pressure Syrian refugees to return to their war-torn homeland.
After a long argument with the inspectors, restaurant manager Younes Younes reluctantly accepts the $3,300 fine.
"I can't just replace the Syrian guy who's been preparing my shawarma sandwiches here for years," he said.
"Finding Lebanese employees is not easy because they ask for higher salaries," he told AFP.
"We've looked for Lebanese to hire... but we haven't found anyone."
On a nearby restaurant window in the Hamra neighbourhood, a sign reads: "Lebanese employees wanted."
"None available," someone has scribbled over it in red.
Lebanon, a small country of just four million people, says it hosts 1.5 million Syrians, just under 1 million of them registered refugees, as well as other foreign workers.
Source: Daily Mail Online.