Lebanon has gone through many stages in its absorption of migrant workers, both before and after the Lebanese Civil War. This development has led to multiple problems regarding integration in Lebanese society. The ambiguity of the Kafala system in Lebanon has resulted in migrant domestic workers facing many legal issues and violations to their basic human rights. The government has largely been inactive and ineffective in implementing laws to protect migrant domestic workers.
Historical background Until the 20th-century, slaves worked in the private households before slavery in Lebanon was prohibited.The Anti-slavery Reporter. (1876). Storbritannien: The Society. p. 203-204 Before the start of the Lebanese Civil War young girls, aged ten and upwards, who came from poor Lebanese families or from other countries such as Syria, Palestine and Egypt were employed in Lebanese households. The girl's parents collected their salary annually though the girls remained with their employers until they got married.Esim, S., & Smith, M. (2004). Gender and migration in Arab states.'The case of domestic workers. International Labour Organisation, Regional Office for Arab States, p.65. Following the beginning of the Lebanese Civil War, many Arab domestic workers decided to leave due to a general economic decline and a crisis in security. That in turn left a gap in the country's domestic workforce.Abu-Habib, L. (1998). The use and abuse of female domestic workers from Sri Lanka in Lebanon. Gender & Development, 6(1), 52-56. A change in situation came about with the arrival of African and Asian migrant workers. The first migrants arrived in the late 1970s.Brochmann, G. (1993). Middle East Avenue: Female Migration from Sri Lanka to the Gulf. Westview Press. Initially, the highest percentage of migrant workers were male until the 1980s and early 1990s when an increasing feminization of the migrant labour force became evident.Pande, A. (2012). From “balcony talk” and “practical prayers” to illegal collectives: Migrant domestic workers and meso-level resistances in Lebanon. Gender & society, 26(3), 382-405.p.386
The migrants, mostly from Sri Lanka and The Philippines, arrived together in large groups through both illegal and semi-legal channels. The migrant labour was supported by the sending countries because of the foreign exchange remittances which helped to reduce the country's debt.Jureidini, R., & Moukarbel, N. (2004). Female Sri Lankan domestic workers in Lebanon: A case of ‘contract slavery’?. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 30(4), 581-607.p.590.
In 1998 it was estimated that there were 100,000 Sri Lankans, 30,000 Indians and 20,000 Filipinos living in Lebanon. There were also an estimated 40,000 Egyptians and 250,000 Syrians.Middle East International #591 15 January 1998 (sic) (1999); Ghadi Karmi pp.21-23
The sending countries have been in pursuance of effectual policies concerning overseas employment. After 1987, the Lebanese government failed to answer the requests of the sending countries to establish an inclusion of certain conditions in the employment contract. The requests were due to the failure of private recruitment agencies in following licensing procedures, in addition to reports of physical abuse.Esim, S., & Smith, M. (2004). Gender and migration in Arab states. The case of domestic workers. International Labour Organisation, Regional Office for Arab States, p.66.
Recruitment process
The recruitment process of a migrant domestic worker into Lebanon is conducted by sponsorship. The worker has to receive an invitation before being granted a working permit to enter the country. The invitation comes through a recruiting agency either by use of the services of their counterparts in the worker's country of origin or directly from the agency itself and sometimes at the request of an individual employer. First, the Ministry of Labour issues preliminary work authorization to migrant domestic workers. In 2010, the Ministry of Labour issued an approximate 118,000 work permits to migrant domestic Workers.Kafa (enough) Violence and Exploitation. (2011) Trafficking of Migrant Domestic Workers in Lebanon: A Legal Analysis, 19. Next, the Ministry of Interior issues entry visas through the General Directorate for General Security. Then the General Directorate of General Security authorizes the legal entry of migrant domestic workers and arranges work permission and residence when they arrived in the country. Lastly, the sponsor's name is located on the migrant domestic worker's entry visa, residence and work permit. The visa is for a three-month period and the name of the sponsor is included in the passport.Esim & Smith (2004) p.66. When the migrant domestic worker arrives at the airport they are subjected to an immigration routine which includes the handing over of their passports to the Lebanese General Security in order to process the papers, while the migrant domestic worker waits to be collected by their sponsor.Pande, Amrita, ““The Paper that You Have in Your Hand is My Freedom”: Migrant Domestic Work and the Sponsorship (Kafala) System in Lebanon,” International Migration Review, 47(2), (Summer 2013): 424. After this, the sponsor brings the migrant domestic worker to a local agency for a basic medical checkup.Pande, Amrita, ““The Paper that You Have in Your Hand is My Freedom”: Migrant Domestic Work and the Sponsorship (Kafala) System in Lebanon,” International Migration Review, 47(2), (Summer 2013): 425
There are no clear criteria set by the government in terms of the requirements needed to issue an agency licence.Jureidini, Ray, “Trafficking and Contract Migrant Workers in the Middle East,” International Migration, 48(4), 2010, pp 143. In order to open an agency, an agent must place a $33,500 non-interest-bearing guarantee in Bank de l'Habitat which is the government's Housing Bank. There are an estimated 310 licensed agents in Lebanon. Out of this number, 44 are operating as genuine agents with office and staff while the remaining agents hold licenses, they do not focus on the obtaining and placing Migrant Domestic Workers in positions but sell their quotas to active agencies.Jureidini, Ray, “Trafficking and Contract Migrant Workers in the Middle East,” International Migration, 48(4), 2010, pp 144.
In order to recruit migrant domestic workers, Lebanese recruitment agencies collaborate with agencies in the migrant sending countries. Migrant domestic workers are required to pay a fee to the local agentReem Haddad 1999,39 in their home country, usually a large sum of money which causes them to incur a large debt.Haddad, R. (1999). "A Modern-Day "Slave Trade": Sri Lankan Workers in Lebanon", Middle East Report, No. 211, Trafficking and Transiting: New Perspectives on Labour Migration (Summer, 1999), 39 Once the fee transaction is complete the agency arranges the transportation.Sweetman, 54 The employer is obliged to meet the migrant worker at the airport gate where a general security guard who holds the employee's passport will hand it over directly to the employer. A medical examination and the resulting report must be fulfilled before the work permit is issued and the insurance for the worker must be paid by the employer within three months. A standard unified contract is drawn up which is more in favour of the employer than the migrant worker.
Legal aspect Article 7 of the Lebanese Labour Law explicitly excludes domestic workers from the standard labor protections given to the other classes of employees.Hamill, K. (2011). Trafficking of migrant domestic workers in Lebanon: A legal analysis. KAFA (enough) Violence & Exploitation.p.25. The domestic workers have been denied the right to freedom of association and banned from union membership under Article 92 of the Labour Law, added to which they have almost no legal safeguards which leaves them subject to abuse and exploitation. The decision made by the Lebanese forbidding the domestic workers forming their own union or being a member of one would be considered a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which Lebanon ratified in 1972 and entered into force in 1976. Article 22 of ICCPR stipulates that "Everyone shall have the right to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his interests."
The Standard Unified Contract is a contract between the Employer and the migrant domestic worker. It was drawn up by The Ministry of Labour and it is the main source of the worker's rights. The right for a clean and private place in which to relax in their free time. Also, clean and appropriate clothes, and sufficient food (Article 8). The right to medical care when needed, including dental and eye care, the costs of which should be met by the employer. The workers are covered by health insurance in the case of emergency (Article 9). The right to work for ten non-consecutive hours every day with frequent short breaks, and at least eight continuous hours of rest at night (Article 11). The right for a weekly rest period of 24 hours, and deciding which day in the week is to be discussed between the worker and the employer (Article 12). The right for annual leave consists of 6 days also the dates should be discussed between the employer and the worker (Article 12). The right for a return ticket at the end of the contract (Article 13). The right for one phone call every month on the charge of the employer (Article 14). The right for sick leave when there is a medical report, half a month with pay and half a month with half pay (Article 15). There is no stipulation in the contract for any free legal assistance for the domestic workers.
In spite of the rights mentioned in an official contract, in practice the rights were ineffective. In the case of conflicts matters were often settled out of court, not only in the case of nonpayment of salary but also in the case of physical abuses. Under the Kafala system a domestic worker might be administratively detained in the event of fleeing the household of the employer. That in turn places the employer in a better position when negotiating the rights of the worker. As a result, the domestic workers often drop the charges against the employer or even refrain from filing a case before the court.Nasri, A. and Tannous, W. (2014). Access to justice for migrant domestic workers in Lebanon. 1st ed. Geneva: International Labour Organization, p.50.
The Kafala system