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Migrant workers demonstrate and call for the abolishment of the sponsorship (kafala) system
2-5-2017
On the occasion of Workers’ Day (May 1st), migrant workers in Lebanon organized two demonstrations to demand their rights. The first demo took place in Ashrafiey, Sassine Plaza, and was called for by the National Federation of workers and employees in Lebanon and the domestic workers trade union. Migrant workers celebrated the day and called for the abolishing of the Sponsorship (Kafala) system and the ratification of the convention for decent work for domestic workers. For the occasion, the President of the Federation, Castro Abdallah, gave a speech noting that the demonstration is a message calling for the ratification of the Decent Work Convention number 189 and which would guarantee domestic workers their natural rights especially since they are not protected by Labor laws. This, he noted, has subjected many a domestic worker to various predicaments including racism and that is despite the fact that “migrant domestic workers have become essential to the Lebanese” as he put it. The other demonstration was organized by civil society organisations including Kafa, Amel, and Insan calling for the same message. The second demonstration moved from Sodeco to Rawsheh and going through Zukak el Blat and Verdun. L’Orient le Jour interviewed Guima, a migrant domestic worker from the Philippines, and also an activist for MWDW rights. Guima noted that migrant women workers are still denied their basic rights. She called for the abolishing of the sponsorship system and its replacement by an immigration system, allowing domestic workers to live outside their employers’ houses as well as the freedom to change employers. (L’Orient le Jour, April 30th and May 1st, 1027)
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