"The African workers left in Lebanon" 27 January 2025

Since Israel’s latest invasion of Lebanon in September, migrant workers are once again fearing for their safety. The majority of African workers come from Ethiopia, Sudan, Sierra Leone and Kenya and many have lived through, survived or fled a war in their home countries...

‘These people do not care about us. To them, we are like working machines. My friends were denied entry at shelters because they are not Lebanese,’ Kenyan domestic worker...

It’s not the first time employers have been quick to discard migrants during a crisis. For instance, when Covid-19 arrived in 2020 hundreds of domestic workers were left stranded with no documents or pay when the country closed its borders and households closed their gates. Then in August that year, when a catastrophic explosion in Beirut killed more than 220 people, many migrant workers, mainly women, were again left on the streets...

For the last four years, Lebanese groups like the Anti-Racism Movement have continuously called for more humane labour contractual systems, the end of discrimination and ill-treatment of all migrant workers, and the abolition of kafala...

...Highlighting Lebanon’s lack of clear legislation that defines racial discrimination...

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