Migrant domestic workers in Lebanon face maltreatment - Rights
groups
An estimated 200,000 migrant workers in Lebanon remain unprotected by
labour laws and subject to a range of abuses by their employers,
according to several rights groups.
Most of the women domestic workers are from the Philippines, Sri
Lanka and Ethiopia. “Domestic workers represent a large segment of
labourers who are not being recognised as such.
Over a third of the domestic worker population is denied time off,”
said Nadim Houry, Beirut researcher for Human Rights Watch (HRW), which
this month re-launched “Put yourself in her shoes” - a campaign to
highlight abuses against domestic workers.
“They suffer nonpayment of wages, delayed payment of wages, lack of a
day off, restriction of movement and poor conditions where they work;
either they are not being provided with adequate food or adequate
housing,” said Houry.
Sri Lanka received $3.4 billion in remittances last year from migrant
workers abroad, while according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF),
between 2000 and 2005, remittances to sub-Saharan Africa increased by
more than 55 per cent, to nearly $7 billion.
Sri Lanka is now considering banning women migrant domestic workers
from going to many countries in the Middle East, including Lebanon,
starting in 2009, according to HRW.
Shelters at the Philippine and Sri Lankan embassies, as well as those
run by Caritas, accommodate dozens of women who have run away from
abusive employers and are waiting to obtain their unpaid wages and a
ticket home.
Hundreds of others, who have fled their employers or remain in the
country illegally, are kept in a deportation centre waiting to retrieve
their passports, according to Father Augustine, a Philippine priest sent
to Beirut 10 years ago to help the now 25,000-strong Philippine
community.
Employment agencies in Lebanon charge an average $2,000 to import the
workers and commit them to a tightly binding two-year contract, often
seizing the worker’s passport to ensure they cannot travel home before
their contract expires.
Government efforts to improve labour laws, backed by the UN,
Afro-Asian embassies, the Labour Ministry, employment agencies and
Caritas (the Roman Catholic non-profit organisation), have stalled.
Domestic workers remain excluded under Article 6 of Lebanese labour
laws and though many are treated kindly by their employers and stay with
them for years, stories of abuse, including sexual harassment, abound.
Last year at least four domestic workers reportedly committed suicide.
Rights organisations have documented widespread abuse of domestic
workers across the Middle East. However, unlike Lebanon, some countries
have successfully changed their laws and practices.
In 2003, Bahrain established temporary shelters and a hotline to
assist abused foreign workers, while guides to rights and duties are now
available in embassies, recruitment offices, and points of entry. The
Government is also looking at ways to organise work permit procedures
for domestic workers.
HRW is calling on Lebanon’s Ministry of Labour to sign and ratify the
international Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and Members of their Families. IRIN |
