By Banah Khamis
As the Lebanese economic crisis worsens by the day, thousands of migrant workers remain stuck in limbo as they struggle to leave the country. Since June, dozens of migrant domestic workers have rallied in Beirut outside their respective consulates, and many have been left without pay or passports as employers left them unable to return home as they stopped paying or accommodating them.
Lebanon is home to more than 250,000 migrant domestic workers who’re mostly women. Long before the pandemic or the worsening economic crisis, these women have been vulnerable to physical, verbal, and sexual abuse, because the Lebanese Kafala system (a sponsorship system of domestic-indentured servitude) is what keeps these women abandoned outside embassies, with no autonomy, and can only return to their home countries with their employer’s consent.
Unfortunately, the system allows employers to exploit and abuse their workers without any legal repercussions. Nonetheless, once these women leave the Kafala system, their only hope for returning home is by their own home country’s embassy in Lebanon to repatriate them. Hence the reason behind Lebanese employers dropping off hundreds of domestic employees at the doorsteps of their embassies, leaving them stuck in limbo, unable to return home or find a decent and well-paying job to survive.
Here are some local fundraisers that are supporting these migrant workers that you need to keep in mind when placing your next donation!
Filmmaker and Fundraiser Fatima
Fatima is working to raise funds to allow migrant workers stuck in Lebanon to fly home, pay for their overstay fees, and test for COVID-19. With full transparency on her campaign, Fatima updates the potential donors on her goal and where the money is going.
This is Lebanon
Is another fundraiser that assists migrant domestic workers in Lebanon. Their current campaign is highlighting the story of a Ghanian domestic worker in Lebanon and how this crisis has affected her and how they’re planning out ways for support.
Anti-Racism Movement
This movement in Lebanon has created an emergency relief fund for migrant communities in Lebanon and is doing great work to offer support to migrant workers during this time of crisis.
