Lebanon’s parliamentary council has ratified the law proposal giving employment rights for 4 lakh Palestinian refugees living in the country. According to Lebanon’s national news agency, the council has amended article 59 of the Lebanese Labour law, which gives the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon a work permit. It is one of the most serious efforts yet by Lebanon to transform its policies toward the refugees, which will allow Palestinians to work in the same professions as other foreigners. Palestinian leaders in Lebanon and human rights workers welcomed the move, but said it is only a first step toward improving the lives of stateless refugees.According to U.N. figures, more than four lakh Palestinian refugees, who fled or were driven from their homes during the 1948 and 1967 Israeli-Arab wars live in Lebanon apart from several lakhs living in other neighbouring countries.AIR Correspondent reports, the employment rights to Palestinian refugees in Lebanon has been long debated issue in the country as Lebanon's 40 lakh population is divided between 18 sects, including Sunni and Shiia, Christians and Druse, and every community is sensitive to anything that could change the balance of power. The top posts in the country are also divided on sectarian lines and Christians and Shiites are particularly worried about any possible permanent settling of the Palestinian refugees, who are overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim. Unlike in neighboring Arab countries Syria and Jordan, where Palestinians enjoy more rights, the refugees in Lebanon live mostly on U.N. agencies' handouts and payments from the rival Palestinian factions or work as laborers at menial jobs such as construction During the 1948 and 1967 Israeli-Arab wars, nearly 47 lakh Palestinian refugees fled or were driven from their homes and their descendants are scattered across the Middle East. According to U.N. figures, they live mostly in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. The Palestinian leadership also does not want refugees to gain citizenship, fearing it could deny them their right to return home. But it does support giving them civil rights.