‘No place to go’: As Israel bombs Lebanon, African migrants feel abandoned
…Soreti is among an estimated 175,000 to 200,000 foreign domestic workers living in Lebanon, the majority of them women. According to a 2019 Amnesty International report, which cited the Ministry of Labour, at least 75 percent of migrant domestic workers in Lebanon at the time were Ethiopian…
…the response of African diplomats in Lebanon has been close to absent, according to domestic workers from four African countries Al Jazeera spoke to…
“Over the past few weeks, we’ve had women flee southern Lebanon and come to Beirut seeking shelter. Others have called me after their employers locked them in their homes, fled the region and left them to die,” Ndongo said…
Migrant workers in Lebanon are excluded from protections afforded to workers under the country’s national labour law. Instead, their status is regulated by the “kafala” or sponsorship system…
…migrants cannot seek legal redress for abuses meted out against them, no matter how grave they are. …“Unfortunately, domestic workers are not viewed as human beings here,” Ndongo added. “The racism and abuse we suffer in the workplace knows no bounds. It has been like this for decades and I don’t see any signs of improvement.”…