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Kafala system

A migrant domestic worker holds a placard during a march demanding basic labor rights as Lebanese workers in Beirut, May 3, 2015. More than 200,000 workers mostly women from Asia and Africa work as maids in a country of 4 million people, many also come fr

Could a court case in Lebanon shift attitudes toward migrant domestic workers?

Justice

In a rare case, an Ethiopian domestic worker in Lebanon is taking her former employer and the agency that hired her to court over accusations of slavery and slave trading. The woman, identified as M.H., alleges that she was underpaid, locked up and assaulted over several years. Activists are hoping it will help change the worker sponsorship program in Lebanon.

Several African women sit in a room with light blue walls, next to luggage and personal belongings.

Migrant workers stuck in Beirut in wake of blast

Four Ethiopian women wearing blue face masks sit outside with a young child.

As Lebanon’s financial crisis worsens, migrant workers are being dumped on the streets like ‘trash’

Business, Economics and Jobs
Four women sit crosslegged on the floor of a windowless room. Around them are suitcases and bedding. A baby is wrapped in a blanket nearby.

‘Discounted maids!’: How ads trap women in modern-day slavery in Jordan

Jobs