Countering corruption in human trafficking in Lebanon

Al Akhbar newspaper wrote about the corruption in the offices recruiting migrant domestic workers (MWDWs) and which was uncovered during last week’s sit-in by a group of these agencies in front of the labor ministry. The protest, to recall, was called upon by their syndicate to demand a regulation of the sector. According to Al Akhbar, the demonstrators gave examples of the illegal methods and the bad reputation involving a black market in the industry, the illicit leasing of licenses and the inconsistent process to get these licenses, where in most cases, permits are released through fraudulent brokers mediating with the successive ministry of labor officials (for more, kindly refer to the following link: (: https://bit.ly/2LVlDPf). On the other hand, Al Akhbar drew attention to the suffering of MWDWs, including racist discrimination and injustice in legal matters, as well as, exploitation and abuse through confiscating the workers’ passports or forcing them to work in violation of the provisions specified in the signed contracts, and not paying their wages. Added to all this, Al Akhbar said, is the disrespect for the worker’s privacy and their torture by a number of recruiting offices in order to restrain or repress them. Many Lebanese, Al Akhbar wrote, tend to treat the migrant worker as one of the house’s possession. On the subject, the president of the National Federation of Employees and Workers Unions in Lebanon (FENASOL), Castro Abdallah, denounced the existence of such offices, underlining the need to regulate and organize the work of MWDWs through the state-run National Employment Office (NEO). (Al Akhbar, June 4, 2018)
 

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