Lebanon’s treatment of migrant domestic workers raises questions over protection

Lebanon’s treatment of migrant domestic workers presents a difficult contrast with the country’s long history of displacement and migration, according to an opinion article by Osmund Agbo. The article begins with the writer’s concern for a Lebanese acquaintance during the 2024 escalation between Israel and Hezbollah. It describes Lebanon’s diaspora as the product of repeated violence, economic hardship, political instability and war, rather than a simple preference for life abroad.

Agbo says Lebanese communities established across regions including West Africa, Latin America and North America developed commercial and social networks that helped later migrants. He argues that this history might be expected to produce an instinctive understanding of the vulnerability of immigrants. The article then turns to migrant domestic workers in Lebanon, who are predominantly women from countries including Ethiopia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and other African nations.

It says these workers perform household duties such as cleaning, cooking and caring for children and elderly people. Human rights organisations have documented allegations including unpaid wages, confinement, confiscation of passports, physical abuse and sexual abuse, the article says. It cites a study of 913 migrant domestic workers in which 68 per cent reported at least one incident of sexual harassment.

Lebanon enacted Law No. 205 in December 2020, criminalising sexual harassment and establishing protections for victims and witnesses. However, the article says migrant domestic workers remain largely outside the ordinary labour-law framework.

It also examines the kafala sponsorship system, under which a worker’s legal status is closely tied to an employer. Agbo argues that control over employment, residency and the ability to leave an abusive relationship can make the distinction between employment and coercion dangerously narrow.