Lebanon: Stop abuse of domestic workers

(Beirut, March
23, 2012) – Lebanese authorities should act quickly to reform restrictive visa
regulations and adopt a labor law on domestic work to address high levels of
abuse and deaths among migrant domestic workers, a group of eight concerned
civil society groups said today. The government should also announce publicly
the outcome of the investigation into the recent abuse and subsequent suicide
of Alem Dechasa-Desisa, an
Ethiopian domestic worker.

The eight groups are Human Rights Watch, Caritas Lebanon Migrant Center, KAFA
(enough) Violence & Exploitation, Anti Racism
Movement, Amel Association International, Insan, Danish Refugee Council, and Nasawiya.

Police arrived at the scene shortly thereafter, found the car still there, and
took Dechasa-Desisa to a detention center. Following
a request by Caritas Lebanon Migrant Center, who maintains a presence at the
detention facility, they transferred her for medical care two days later but
did not arrest those who carried out the beatings. Dechasa-Desisa
committed suicide at the Deir al-Saleeb
psychiatric hospital in the early morning of March 14. A social worker from
Caritas Lebanon Migrant Center, who visited Dechasa-Desisa
at the Deir al-Saleeb
psychiatric hospital, told Human Rights Watch that a Lebanese forensic doctor
examined her on March 10.

Following the wide circulation of the video, the labor and justice ministers
announced on March 10 that they were opening investigations into Dechasa-Desisa’s beating and ill-treatment. The outcome has
not been made public and it is unclear whether the prosecutor will pursue
criminal charges against Mahfouz. The Labor Ministry, which regulates
recruitment agencies, has yet to report on any measures against Mahfouz’s labor
agency.

“The Lebanese authorities only opened an investigation because they found
themselves in the media spotlight,” said Houry. “The
government urgently needs to address the root causes that are driving so many
migrant domestic workers to despair.”

Lebanese families employ an estimated 200,000 migrant domestic workers,
primarily from Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, the Philippines, and Nepal. Domestic
workers are excluded from the labor law and subject to restrictive immigration
rules based on employer-specific sponsorship that put workers at risk of
exploitation and make it difficult for them to leave abusive employers. The
high incidence of abuse has led several countries, including Ethiopia, to bar
their citizens from working in Lebanon. The ban on official travel to Lebanon
has not halted the migration of domestic workers and may contribute to women
being smuggled or trafficked into the country.

The most common complaints documented by the embassies of labor-sending
countries and civil society groups include mistreatment by recruiters,
non-payment or delayed payment of wages, forced confinement to the workplace, a
refusal to provide any time off for the worker, forced labor, and verbal and
physical abuse. Despite repeated public announcements by Lebanese officials
that they would improve conditions for migrant domestic workers, reforms have
been limited. A compulsory standard employment contract was introduced in
January 2009, but is only available in Arabic so far and provides far weaker
protections than those available to other workers under the main labor law.

Efforts to introduce a new law to regulate the presence and work of domestic
workers have failed to gain momentum. In February 2011, Labor Minister Boutros Harb proposed a draft law to regulate the work of migrant
domestic workers that would keep the current sponsorship “kafala”
system in place, but his draft law was abandoned as a change in government took
place. On January 23, a new labor minister, Charbel Nahhas, publicly announced that he would look at abolishing
the “kafala” system, but he resigned over unrelated matters
a month later. The newly appointed labor minister, Salim
Jreissati, has yet to announce any plans to put an
end to the widespread abuses against domestic workers.

“The lack of legislated labor rights for domestic workers and restrictive visa
policies contribute to domestic workers’ isolation, mistreatment, debts, and
inability to escape from abuse,” Houry said. “The
government should make reform of the sponsorship system a priority and adopt a
new labor law on domestic work in line with international standards.”

A review of 13 criminal cases found that it took an average of 24 months to
resolve them and that the prosecutions resulted in light sentences. The most
severe sentence for beating a domestic worker, of which Human Rights Watch is
aware, is one month in prison, imposed by a criminal court on June 26, 2010,
against an employer who repeatedly beat a Sri Lankan domestic worker.

“Lebanese authorities should look into several aspects of Dechasa-Desisa’s
death – the abuse captured on video, the lack of police investigation into the
abuse prior to the video being circulated, and the circumstances of her death
while in the care of a hospital,” Houry said. “The
government should also adopt a national plan to improve domestic workers’
ability to report abuse and train police, immigration officials, and judges on
how to better respond to these cases.”