Marching in support of the rights of migrant women domestic workers

On the occasion of May Day, and with the participation of women migrant domestic workers, Kafa, Enough Violence and Exploitation organization organized a march on the 5th of this month in support of the rights of MWDWs which kicked off from Sodeco roundabout to Mufti Hassan Khaled Park in Aisha Bakkar. Workers hoisted signs which read, “No for slavery, No for Kafala (sponsorship), Give us our rights, We came here to work not to die”. According to Al Akhbar daily, many workers who could not take part in the demonstration, showed their support from the balconies of the houses of their employers who did not allow them to join their colleagues. Workers reiterated the demands that have become a yearly call, notably: abolishing the kafala system and replacing it with fairer immigration laws, inclusion of domestic workers in the Lebanese labor law, banning administrative detention of MWDWs victims of violence, ending the detention and deportation of MWDWs who give birth and raise families in Lebanon, monitoring the work of recruitment agencies while enforcing strict punitive measures against violators, serious investigation into the deaths of MWDWs and provision of legal defense to ill-treated workers. In this regard, a group of migrant domestic workers recounted to Al Akhbar cases of exploitation, violence, harassment, beatings, verbal abuse and denial of their salaries. (Al Akhbar, May 6, 2019)