BEIRUT: Lebanese authorities deported over the weekend a migrant domestic worker’s rights activist, Human Rights Watch said.
Sujana Rana, a Nepalese domestic worker, was been arrested on November 30 at her employer’s house by General Security for questioning about her activism for the rights of domestic workers in Lebanon, the rights organization said in a statement issued Wednesday.
“[It’s] a shortsighted move that will undermine the fight for equal rights in Lebanon,” HRW said.
Lebanese authorities later arrested a second Nepalese migrant domestic worker, Roja Limbu, on December 5. Both were denied access to a lawyer.
Limbu, according to HRW, remains in detention.
HRW and several other rights organizations denounced the move and called on authorities to both workers to appeal their deportation.
Rana and Limbu are members of the domestic workers’ union in Lebanon and have legal status and work authorization. The union operates informally as a forum for advocacy of migrant domestic workers rights after the Labor Ministry in 2015 refused to recognize the union.
Lebanon has an estimated 250,000 migrant domestic workers.
Reports by HRW and other organizations have found that the majority of domestic workers in Lebanon have been subjected to illegal practices such as having their passports confiscated by their employers and not receiving any time off.
Several reports have also indicated that foreign domestic workers suffer from inadequate salaries, lack of basic worker’s rights, physical abuse and isolation, which in extreme cases have led to domestic workers taking their own lives.
The relationship between migrant domestic workers and the employer is controlled by a sponsorship system, known as kafala.
The system ties the worker's residence permit to one specific employer or sponsor in Lebanon.
It has been long criticized by activists, who argue that it encourages inequality and opens the door to abuse.
Sujana Rana, a Nepalese domestic worker, was been arrested on November 30 at her employer’s house by General Security for questioning about her activism for the rights of domestic workers in Lebanon, the rights organization said in a statement issued Wednesday.
“[It’s] a shortsighted move that will undermine the fight for equal rights in Lebanon,” HRW said.
Lebanese authorities later arrested a second Nepalese migrant domestic worker, Roja Limbu, on December 5. Both were denied access to a lawyer.
Limbu, according to HRW, remains in detention.
HRW and several other rights organizations denounced the move and called on authorities to both workers to appeal their deportation.
Rana and Limbu are members of the domestic workers’ union in Lebanon and have legal status and work authorization. The union operates informally as a forum for advocacy of migrant domestic workers rights after the Labor Ministry in 2015 refused to recognize the union.
Lebanon has an estimated 250,000 migrant domestic workers.
Reports by HRW and other organizations have found that the majority of domestic workers in Lebanon have been subjected to illegal practices such as having their passports confiscated by their employers and not receiving any time off.
Several reports have also indicated that foreign domestic workers suffer from inadequate salaries, lack of basic worker’s rights, physical abuse and isolation, which in extreme cases have led to domestic workers taking their own lives.
The relationship between migrant domestic workers and the employer is controlled by a sponsorship system, known as kafala.
The system ties the worker's residence permit to one specific employer or sponsor in Lebanon.
It has been long criticized by activists, who argue that it encourages inequality and opens the door to abuse.
Source & Link : The Daily Star
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