For the last decade, high levels of unemployment in several countries have pushed people to search for work abroad. Expanding economies in the Middle East have become a magnet for migrant labour. But people are also going to countries in the region with more troubled economies, like Lebanon. Four years ago, there were an estimated 400,000 migrant workers in the country, many of them domestic workers.1
Since Israel’s latest invasion of Lebanon in September, migrant workers are once again fearing for their safety. The majority of African workers come from Ethiopia, Sudan, Sierra Leone and Kenya and many have lived through, survived or fled a war in their home countries.2 ‘Also, under the kafala sponsorship system employers can confiscate workers’ documents – such as passports – and prevent them from leaving the house or changing jobs without permission. This means that in recent months workers have become trapped in Lebanon. The UN’s Special Rapporteur on migrants in Africa has called on African countries to urgently introduce measures for the repatriation of migrant workers.2
