The labor minister reportedly refused to sign an agreement with the Ethiopia authorities to recruit female domestic workers within the set deadline, despite repeated appeals from Ethiopian MWDWs, AL Diyar newspaper said on November 9. The Lebanese minister explained the reason for his decline saying the caretaker government is not entitled to sign a memorandum of understanding, despite the existence of a legal text that sanctions this, Al Diyar wrote. The latter argued that the ministry’s decision would cause a problem for the Lebanese employers should Ethiopia ban the travel of its nationals to Lebanon. The illegal entry of MWDWs through a third country will cost more, the newspaper said, adding that with the end of the deadline, the ministry of labor started looking for solutions to the impasse pending the response of the Ethiopian side. In the same context, Al Diyar cited informed ministry sources as saying that since Kabara took over, about 200 new agencies have been licensed, noting that the business is going downhill. (Al Diyar, November 9, 2018)