AI
Sunday, June 28, 2020 10:09:06 PM
Coronavirus has accelerated Lebanon's economic collapse, and foreign maids are paying the price
"'You think we care about masks?': anger and poverty grip Lebanese city"
Always remember how lucky we are.
By Cherine Yazbeck in Beirut and Middle East correspondent Eric Tlozek
Posted 6 hours ago, updated 4 hours ago
After she was abandoned by her employer without money or her passport, Misraha is camping next to the Ethiopian
embassy. (ABC News: Cherine Yazbeck)
On a street corner in the Lebanese city of Beirut, cars keep pulling up. Women and girls get out with their bags before the driver takes off.
Key points:
* There are 250,000 registered foreign workers in Lebanon
* Maids have been abandoned by their employers due to the country's economic crisis
* Due to coronavirus travel restrictions, they say they cannot get home
They are foreign maids, mostly from Ethiopia, being abandoned by the families for whom they worked. Most have no money, no passport, no accommodation, and no way of getting home.
[...]
Hawa, who started working as a domestic servant at 13, says she was beaten repeatedly by her employer.
(ABC News: Cherine Yazbeck)
She fled from her most recent boss after asking for money she was owed and is now on the street with no money, no clothes and no passport.
"He hit me, then I ran away," she said.
"I'm so scared he might kill me, I left everything I have behind."
The system which can turn maids into 'slaves'
Most domestic workers in Lebanon are employed under a sponsorship system known as kafala, which binds them to a particular employer.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-29/coronavirus-sees-foreign-maids-dumped-in-lebanon/12393812
"'You think we care about masks?': anger and poverty grip Lebanese city"
Always remember how lucky we are.
By Cherine Yazbeck in Beirut and Middle East correspondent Eric Tlozek
Posted 6 hours ago, updated 4 hours ago
After she was abandoned by her employer without money or her passport, Misraha is camping next to the Ethiopian
embassy. (ABC News: Cherine Yazbeck)
On a street corner in the Lebanese city of Beirut, cars keep pulling up. Women and girls get out with their bags before the driver takes off.
Key points:
* There are 250,000 registered foreign workers in Lebanon
* Maids have been abandoned by their employers due to the country's economic crisis
* Due to coronavirus travel restrictions, they say they cannot get home
They are foreign maids, mostly from Ethiopia, being abandoned by the families for whom they worked. Most have no money, no passport, no accommodation, and no way of getting home.
[...]
Hawa, who started working as a domestic servant at 13, says she was beaten repeatedly by her employer.
(ABC News: Cherine Yazbeck)
She fled from her most recent boss after asking for money she was owed and is now on the street with no money, no clothes and no passport.
"He hit me, then I ran away," she said.
"I'm so scared he might kill me, I left everything I have behind."
The system which can turn maids into 'slaves'
Most domestic workers in Lebanon are employed under a sponsorship system known as kafala, which binds them to a particular employer.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-29/coronavirus-sees-foreign-maids-dumped-in-lebanon/12393812
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
Discover What Traders Are Watching
Explore small cap ideas before they hit the headlines.
