Racist e-messages vis-à-vis migrant women workers and civil groups react

“On the occasion of Mothers Day, treat your mum with a domestic worker. A special 10-day offer on maids from Kenya and Ethiopia. Call us on numbers….;”.This short racist message was circulated in the last 24 hours via cell phones thus steering strong public reactions. However, this announcement might have passed unnoticed were it not for the media and civil groups who approached the Labor Minister Sajaan Azzi. When questioned by As Safir daily, Azzi responded by saying that the Ministry has not yet identified the source of the message. However, he declared that he referred the advertisement to the public prosecutor’s office, adding, that the Labor Ministry team suspects two or three recruiting agencies and have assigned inspectors to investigate the case and to take punitive measures against the perpetrators. Migrant domestic workers recruitment offices in Lebanon, as is widely known, can be grouped into three categories: those licensed and members of the Syndicate of the Owners of Workers Recruitment Agencies in Lebanon (SORA); a second group of licensed offices but not members of SORA and, finally, illegal employment agencies. In this respect, SORA Chief, Hisham Burji, indicated that the syndicate was first to call for an end to racist advertisements which are offensive to domestic workers, such as demeaning posted images of migrant women workers or commercials announcements. He stressed that the Syndicate has repeatedly called for regulating this sector where only qualified offices should be authorized to operate and for sanctioning all others. He pointed out hundreds of similar cases of offensive advertisement, mainly involving banners for offices. He noted that punishing violating agencies will constitute a warning to all agencies, adding that it will be much more effective to impose preventive measures in order to deter potential perpetrators. A woman activist from KAFA said that her civil organization was instrumental in highlighting this matter within the media. Informed sources also indicated that the recruiting agency at the origin of this racist act was legalized not long ago. (As Safir, 18 March 2015)