Lebanon has approved a new work contract allowing foreign domestic workers to resign and keep hold of their own passport, but activists say the exploitative “kafala” system remains in place.
The economic crisis-hit Mediterranean country is home to around 250,000 migrants, mostly women from Africa and Asia, who toil away in people’s homes as housekeepers, carers or nannies.

Outgoing labor minister Lamia Yammine has said the new contract — to replace a 2009 version — “abolishes the kafala system.”
Campaigners have welcomed the detailed five-page document outlining workers’ rights, but say it is only a beginning.
“It is no doubt a much better version than the older one,” said Amnesty International researcher Diala Haidar. But “a contract alone doesn’t end kafala.”
Most importantly, the new contract gives the workers the right to resign and change employers, and says they can keep their passport.
If their employer withholds their wages or passport, they can immediately quit without notice.