" The Exploitation at the Heart of Lebanon’s Kafala System" 10 September 2025

Mai spent most of her decade and a half in Lebanon working for an employer who eventually fled the country, leaving her homeless, undocumented, and emotionally torn. He had failed to pay her wages for years before he simply abandoned her... were settled by a nonprofit called KAFA, which advocates for migrant domestic workers’ rights in Lebanon...
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Years of uncertainty about Mai’s whereabouts — and assumptions that she was being hidden — revealed a more complex reality. Migrant workers under the kafala system, a widely criticized set of laws and policies that define relationships between migrant laborers and their employers, are not always physically imprisoned, but they can still be trapped — economically, legally, and psychologically...In Lebanon, an estimated 250,000 foreign domestic workers — mostly from Ethiopia, Philippines, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka — face a flawed system that fails to protect them...The system effectively strips workers of independence, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation with little legal recourse...
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Mai spoke more openly in cafés and public spaces away from the apartment. Over the course of 18 months, it became clear that she had no set working hours and was expected to be available at all times. Her responsibilities extended beyond housekeeping to caring for both Abdallah and his wife...KAFA stepped in to provide shelter. For the first time, Mai agreed to file a formal complaint. “He hasn’t paid me since 2019,” she said. “He was supposed to give me $150 a month. He owes me $10,800.”...
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