- Title: 'I am not garbage' - Ethiopian domestic worker stranded in Lebanon
- Date: 10th June 2020
- Summary: HAZMIEH, LEBANON (JUNE 8, 2020) (REUTERS) ETHIOPIAN MIGRANT WORKERS ADDRESSING LEBANESE MAN WHO IS LEAVING COLLEAGUE IN FRONT OF ETHIOPIAN CONSULATE VARIOUS OF MIGRANT WORKERS SURROUNDING AND HUGGING CRYING COLLEAGUE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ETHIOPIAN DOMESTIC WORKER WHO HAS BEEN IN LEBANON FOR TWO YEARS, SARA, SAYING: "I don't know how she thinks (her employer), she thinks li
- Embargoed: 24th June 2020 11:21
- Keywords: Ethiopia Ethiopian migrant workers in Lebanon Lebanon Lebanon crisis Migrant workers
- Location: HAZMIEH AND BURJ HAMMOUD, LEBANON
- City: HAZMIEH AND BURJ HAMMOUD, LEBANON
- Country: Lebanon
- Topics: Race Relations / Ethnic Issues,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA001CHSCUAD
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: An Ethiopian domestic worker is dropped off at the steps of the Ethiopian consulate in Lebanon's Hazmieh by her former employee. She is unable to contain her grief and the other migrant women who have recently suffered the same fate, quickly gather to comfort her.
With Lebanon in deep financial crisis and dollars in short supply, people have less money to spend on domestic help. And with Beirut airport shut under a coronavirus lockdown, the situation is even harder for Ethiopian migrant workers who can't fly home.
About a dozen Ethiopians who have been abandoned by their employers have been camping outside the consulate because they have nowhere else to go.
The Ethiopian consulate published a post on its Facebook page on May 20 saying the cost of a ticket would be $680 in addition to costs for a 14-day quarantine upon arrival, a hefty price for domestic workers who make as little as $150 per month.
"I am not garbage," said Sara, after her employers left her in front of the consulate building. She has been in Lebanon for two years, has not been paid in nine months, and does not have her passport.
Thousands of foreign workers in Lebanon, some without legal documentation, are now out of work and left stranded by border closures, with many unable to access state services and others subjected to abuse in confinement, according to rights group Amnesty International.
Migrant workers form the backbone of sectors like waste collection and housekeeping in Lebanon, where many barely have any rights, face widespread racism and sometimes commit suicide.
Most women work as maids under a sponsorship system called "kafala" that even the former labour minister likened to slavery. It prevents them from leaving without the employer's consent.
Last month, police interrogated a man who tried to sell a Nigerian housekeeper for $1,000 on Facebook.
Since Lebanon plunged into crisis late last year, the local currency has lost more than half its value. Prices have soared as more Lebanese slide into poverty.
(Production: Imad Creidi) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None