BEIRUT: 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.
They are not protected by the country’s labor law, but instead work under a set of laws, policies and customs called kafala repeatedly slammed by rights groups as allowing a wide range of abuse.
Under kafala, meaning “sponsorship” in Arabic, the employer sponsors the worker’s legal immigration status in the country, and the latter cannot resign without their consent or they become undocumented. The law also does not ban withholding a worker’s passport.
All this leaves a worker at the employer’s mercy.
Lebanon’s economic and coronavirus crises have increased the urgency for reform over the past year, with many families now paying their workers in the devaluated local currency, and some not at all.
In recent months, dozens of foreign helpers have been thrown out into the streets without due pay or even their passport, many of them interviewed by AFP.
After the August 4 blast at Beirut port that devastated swathes of the capital and killed more than 190 people, foreign workers have staged rallies outside their consulates appealing to be sent home.
The labor ministry finally this month published a new and revised work contract for domestic workers, the main legal document governing their stay in Lebanon.
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.
It finally gives the worker the right to the national minimum wage of 675,000 pounds ($450 before the crisis, less than $100 at the black market rate) — albeit allowing the subtraction of an undetermined amount to cover food, board and clothes.
The new contract states workers must be provided with a private, well-ventilated room with a key, an improvement after many women said they were forced to sleep in the living room or on a balcony.
It limits labor to eight hours a day in a six-day week, and details the right to daily rest, paid holidays and sick leave.
But activists warn that all these new provisions will amount to nothing without inspections and unless employers violating the agreement are held accountable.
“In the absence of an enforcement mechanism, this contract will remain ink on paper,” Haidar said.
The old contract, for example, states the worker must receive their wages at the end of the month, but this had not stopped some from kicking out workers without pay.
“We haven’t seen any employers held to account for this breach of the contract,” she said.
A Beirut housewife, who employs a Filipino domestic worker, insisted there are two sides to the story.
“The employer needs to keep at least one document as security... I know some employers are bad but also some employees are ungrateful,” the 59-year-old said, asking not to be named.
Rights groups have documented manifold abuses over the years, including no day off, locking workers inside the house, and physical or sexual assault.
Activists have reported up to two deaths a week.
They have repeatedly called for an end to kafala, which is common in the Middle East and often compared to modern-day slavery.
Zeina Mezher of the International Labour Organization called the new contract “one step in the right direction” toward dismantling kafala.
But it’s just “the first step on a road that is still complicated,” she said.
She said support was needed to ensure a worker could resign without losing their residency permit.
Activists have also called for parliament to amend the labor law to bring all domestic workers — Lebanese and foreign — under its protection, and give them the right to set up unions.
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Lebanon’s new domestic worker contract: end to ‘kafala slavery’?
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Lebanon’s new domestic worker contract: end to ‘kafala slavery’?
- Economic crisis-hit Mediterranean country is home to around 250,000 migrants
- Outgoing labor minister Lamia Yammine has said the new contract – to replace a 2009 version – ‘abolishes the kafala system’
Civilians and aid operations bare brunt of drone strikes in Sudan’s Kordofan
- At least 77 people killed and dozens injured in various attacks in Kordofan, mostly by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces
- Residents say RSF drone strikes are taking place almost daily around the two key cities of Kadugli and Dilling
CAIRO: A surge in drone strikes in the Sudanese region of Kordofan has taken a growing toll on civilians and hampered aid operations, analysts and humanitarian workers said Wednesday, as the war in Sudan nears the three-year mark.
At least 77 people were killed and dozens injured in various attacks, mostly by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, in densely populated areas, according to Sudan Doctors Network, a group that tracks violence through the war. Many of the victims were civilians.
The conflict between the RSF and the Sudanese military erupted into a full-blown war in April 2023. So far, at least 40,000 people have been killed and 12 million displaced, according to the World Health Organization. Aid groups say the true toll could be many times higher, as the fighting in vast and remote areas impedes access.
The military increased its use of drones and airstrikes in Kordofan over the past year as the conflict shifted westward, making the region “a primary theater of operations,” said Jalale Getachew Birru, senior analyst for East Africa at the nonprofit Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, ACLED.
Two weeks ago, the military said it broke the RSF siege of Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan province, and the neighboring town of Dilling after more than two years.
However, Birru said the sieges were not fully broken. “These cities are still encircled, and the fight for the control of these cities and the wider region is ongoing,” he told The Associated Press.
Daily drone strikes
Walid Mohamed, a resident of Kadugli, told the AP that breaking the siege allowed more goods and medicines to enter the city, reopening the corridor with Dilling and driving down food prices after a dire humanitarian situation unfolded there. However, he said RSF drone strikes have since occurred almost daily, mainly targeting hospitals, markets and homes.
Omran Ahmed, a resident of Dilling, also said drone strikes had increased, “spreading fear and terror among residents as they see more civilians become victims.”
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Wednesday sounded the alarm that drone strikes killed more than 50 civilians over two days this week.
“These latest killings are yet another reminder of the devastating consequences on civilians of the escalating use of drone warfare in Sudan,” said Türk, condemning the attacks on civilian sites including markets, health facilities and schools.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said there was evidence that both sides had used drones against civilians in this week’s attacks.
“These civilians have been at one time or another in government-controlled areas and areas controlled by the RSF, which would make us believe that both sides are using them,” he said.
Two military officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief the media, told the AP this week that the army doesn’t target civilian infrastructure.
A UN convoy reached Dilling and Kadugli with aid for more than 130,000 people, the first major delivery in three months, United Nations agencies said Wednesday. However, aid workers are concerned about escalating violence.
Mathilde Vu, an advocacy manager with the Norwegian Refugee Council told the AP there’s “huge concern” about the “unacceptable” escalation in Kordofan and that it could “shatter lives and obstruct any hope to reverse the famine/ starvation” in the region.
“It’s very indiscriminate. Between Kordofan, Darfur and the east (Sennar), it’s now every other day we receive messages like ‘drone attack here, hit a civilian infrastructure, killed people,’” Vu said.
Kordofan battlefront shifts
Much of the recent fighting in Sudan has been centered in Kordofan, where the army wants to create a route into the neighboring region of Darfur, Kholood Khair, founding director of Confluence Advisory, a think tank, told the AP.
El-Fasher city, the capital of North Darfur, was the army’s last stronghold in the region but fell to the RSF in October. Its recapture could allow the army to restore important supply and logistic lines between Kordofan and Darfur.
Meanwhile, the RSF wants to create a route out of Kordofan, back to the center of the country and the capital, Khartoum, Khair said.
Both the military and the RSF have used drones, especially in North Kordofan. Civilians have been hard-hit.
Last year, 163 air and drone strikes across the country targeted civilians, killing 1,032 people, according to ACLED data. The army reportedly carried out 83 strikes that caused 568 deaths, while the RSF conducted 66 strikes that killed 288 people.
Both sides have stepped up their use of drones in Kordofan over the past few weeks, according to Federico Donelli, associate professor of international relations at the University of Trieste.
Donelli said several factors are driving the increase, including the army’s acquisition of new weapons and drones manufactured and supplied by foreign actors.
“This has enabled the army to rely more heavily on precision strikes, mirroring tactics that the Rapid Support Forces have been using for some time,” he said,
Both sides may be struggling to maintain troop strength, he said. “Consequently, drones are favored over deploying armed units on the ground, particularly in contested areas such as Kordofan.”
Khair, from Confluence Advisory, said the fighting in Kordofan could shift in the upcoming period, with the army potentially seeking to push into Darfur, particularly toward el-Fasher, where war crimes have been reported.
“We expect to see the bombing campaigns not only continue but increase in frequency and volume,” she said.
At least 77 people were killed and dozens injured in various attacks, mostly by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, in densely populated areas, according to Sudan Doctors Network, a group that tracks violence through the war. Many of the victims were civilians.
The conflict between the RSF and the Sudanese military erupted into a full-blown war in April 2023. So far, at least 40,000 people have been killed and 12 million displaced, according to the World Health Organization. Aid groups say the true toll could be many times higher, as the fighting in vast and remote areas impedes access.
The military increased its use of drones and airstrikes in Kordofan over the past year as the conflict shifted westward, making the region “a primary theater of operations,” said Jalale Getachew Birru, senior analyst for East Africa at the nonprofit Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, ACLED.
Two weeks ago, the military said it broke the RSF siege of Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan province, and the neighboring town of Dilling after more than two years.
However, Birru said the sieges were not fully broken. “These cities are still encircled, and the fight for the control of these cities and the wider region is ongoing,” he told The Associated Press.
Daily drone strikes
Walid Mohamed, a resident of Kadugli, told the AP that breaking the siege allowed more goods and medicines to enter the city, reopening the corridor with Dilling and driving down food prices after a dire humanitarian situation unfolded there. However, he said RSF drone strikes have since occurred almost daily, mainly targeting hospitals, markets and homes.
Omran Ahmed, a resident of Dilling, also said drone strikes had increased, “spreading fear and terror among residents as they see more civilians become victims.”
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Wednesday sounded the alarm that drone strikes killed more than 50 civilians over two days this week.
“These latest killings are yet another reminder of the devastating consequences on civilians of the escalating use of drone warfare in Sudan,” said Türk, condemning the attacks on civilian sites including markets, health facilities and schools.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said there was evidence that both sides had used drones against civilians in this week’s attacks.
“These civilians have been at one time or another in government-controlled areas and areas controlled by the RSF, which would make us believe that both sides are using them,” he said.
Two military officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief the media, told the AP this week that the army doesn’t target civilian infrastructure.
A UN convoy reached Dilling and Kadugli with aid for more than 130,000 people, the first major delivery in three months, United Nations agencies said Wednesday. However, aid workers are concerned about escalating violence.
Mathilde Vu, an advocacy manager with the Norwegian Refugee Council told the AP there’s “huge concern” about the “unacceptable” escalation in Kordofan and that it could “shatter lives and obstruct any hope to reverse the famine/ starvation” in the region.
“It’s very indiscriminate. Between Kordofan, Darfur and the east (Sennar), it’s now every other day we receive messages like ‘drone attack here, hit a civilian infrastructure, killed people,’” Vu said.
Kordofan battlefront shifts
Much of the recent fighting in Sudan has been centered in Kordofan, where the army wants to create a route into the neighboring region of Darfur, Kholood Khair, founding director of Confluence Advisory, a think tank, told the AP.
El-Fasher city, the capital of North Darfur, was the army’s last stronghold in the region but fell to the RSF in October. Its recapture could allow the army to restore important supply and logistic lines between Kordofan and Darfur.
Meanwhile, the RSF wants to create a route out of Kordofan, back to the center of the country and the capital, Khartoum, Khair said.
Both the military and the RSF have used drones, especially in North Kordofan. Civilians have been hard-hit.
Last year, 163 air and drone strikes across the country targeted civilians, killing 1,032 people, according to ACLED data. The army reportedly carried out 83 strikes that caused 568 deaths, while the RSF conducted 66 strikes that killed 288 people.
Both sides have stepped up their use of drones in Kordofan over the past few weeks, according to Federico Donelli, associate professor of international relations at the University of Trieste.
Donelli said several factors are driving the increase, including the army’s acquisition of new weapons and drones manufactured and supplied by foreign actors.
“This has enabled the army to rely more heavily on precision strikes, mirroring tactics that the Rapid Support Forces have been using for some time,” he said,
Both sides may be struggling to maintain troop strength, he said. “Consequently, drones are favored over deploying armed units on the ground, particularly in contested areas such as Kordofan.”
Khair, from Confluence Advisory, said the fighting in Kordofan could shift in the upcoming period, with the army potentially seeking to push into Darfur, particularly toward el-Fasher, where war crimes have been reported.
“We expect to see the bombing campaigns not only continue but increase in frequency and volume,” she said.
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