The Lebanese authorities, represented by the ministry of labor, attempted to contain the situation by means of vain statements and flimsy promises, which did nothing to alleviate the humiliation these workers suffered. Non-governmental organizations (such as Caritas) are now rushing to enact administrative containment and confinement policies, by providing the workers with temporary shelter on the condition they be treated like prisoners: confiscating their phones, depriving them of their right to decide their own circumstantial fate, and accusing them of being thieves. The least that could be said about these acts is that they degrade and humiliate these persons as well as their status as workers. This is and has always been normalized by the application of the criminal Kafala laws under the racist Lebanese capitalist system.
The Kafala System: Ferocious Exploitation in Lebanon
More than fifty women were abandoned in front of the Ethiopian embassy under the blazing sun, in a deliberate process of desertion by their employers (sponsors) under whom they had worked for years. They were left stranded in front of the embassy without receiving due salaries and without being provided the bare minimum of food and health security.
English | July 11, 2020
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