Azzi seeks foreign cooperation to repair the archaic “Kafala” system

Caretaker labor minister, Sajaan Azzi, said that he has shared with countries of nationals working in Lebanon the recent procedures taken by his ministry in order to protect human rights of migrant domestic workers in the country and regulate the work of recruiting agencies. Azzi, who was speaking after a meeting yesterday with the ambassadors of Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Ethiopia, announced that, in observance of relevant standards set by international organizations, the ministry of labor has kicked off a so-called “reform plan” which cuts down the number of agencies to 317 offices by suspending the work of some 130 others. Azzi acknowledged that most of the migrant workers recruitment offices authorized during the past 30 years have not met the legal and professional standards and have mirrored the political and confessional groups in the country. Azzi called on the concerned countries to cooperate in order to reach the desired ends from the “reform campaign”. “I have consented to some conditions which otherwise could have been rebuffed, and that is only to facilitate the implementation of agreements that already have been completed by the ministry of labor,” Azzi maintained. The concerned countries have been notified about these new plans but have not responded yet, he said, while accusing them of trying to preserve the black mark 

(An Nahar, Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, L’Orient Le Jour, The Daily Star, December 16, 2016)

 

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