List of resources to educate yourself and support migrant domestic workers in Lebanon surviving and fighting the racist Kafala system.
Hashtags: #يسقط_نظام_الكفالة and #AbolishKafala. This is primarily for Twitter but the same hashtags should work on Facebook or Instagram.
First, donation channels put together by the American University of Beirut Secular Club:
+ Fundraiser organised by Banchi Yimer of Egna Legna: Food and medicine for kafala victims in Lebanon.
Egna Legna’s GoFundMe pitch
+ Donate to This Is Lebanon. This is Lebanon (TIL), a project of Domestic Workers Unite (DWU), is a project run by a coalition of former domestic workers and activists demanding the protection of migrant domestic workers, and an end to labour exploitation and abuse, with the aim to effectively end government-sanctioned, modern-day slavery in Lebanon. We aim to empower domestic workers, informing them of their rights and supporting their access to justice. Our work combines campaigning and advocating through national and international media to bring this issue to the forefront and raise awareness among both the host population and the affected communities. We also provide legal and medical referrals, as well as emergency protective support.
To read:
The articles on the Kafala system and racism written by myself and others on Global Voices. (Disclosure: I was the MENA regional editor there between 2016 and 2019) and on Hummus For Thought (my private blog).
- “Life Bar” Gemmayze asks guests to dress as maids (January 26, 2012) – Hummus For Thought
- Beirut death of Nepalese migrant worker Lila – video (January 30, 2012) – Hummus For Thought
- Lebanon: Nepali suicide last Sunday in Ashrafieh (January 31, 2012) – Hummus For Thought
- Film Screening of “Beirut” by Rahel Zegeye (February 23, 2012) – Hummus For Thought
- Lebanese Man beats an Ethiopian Woman, Raises Questions over Kafala System – Video (March 10, 2012) – Hummus For Thought
- Alem Desisa, the Ethiopian lady who was abused by Ali Mahfouz, commits suicide today (March 14, 2012) – Hummus For Thought
- Do Not Forget Alem Dechasa (March 16, 2012) – Hummus For Thought
- St. Georges Beach Club refuses entry to migrant worker (June 29, 2012) – Hummus For Thought
- ARM: Lebanese Beaches that openly segregate [Video] (July 12, 2012) – Hummus For Thought
- One racist conversation (November 13, 2012) – Hummus For Thought
- ARM: Worker from the Philippines dead (November 14, 2012) – Hummus For Thought
- What slavery looks like (December 12, 2012) – Hummus For Thought
- Risking your life on Christmas Day (December 26, 2012) – Hummus For Thought
- Honest Advertising (January 17, 2013) – Hummus For Thought
- Start Listening (March 21, 2013) – Hummus For Thought
- Campaign Tackles Migrant Worker Exploitation in Lebanon (April 5, 2013) – Global Voices
- What an investigation of Racism in Lebanon revealed (September 17, 2013) – Hummus For Thought
- Six Women Held as Slaves in Southern Lebanon (March 22, 2014) – Global Voices
- Workers’ Day Parade and Festival for Migrant Workers (April 15, 2014) – Hummus For Thought
- Lebanese and Migrant Activists target the Kafala system (May 1, 2014) – Global Voices
- Photos: Domestic Workers Celebrate Labor Day (May 4, 2014) – Hummus For Thought
- The Adlieh Detention Center: A Living Hell (June 20, 2014) – Hummus For Thought
- Ivorian Woman Pushed off 6th Floor for Demanding Salary in Lebanon (July 8, 2014) – Global Voices
- Nine Lebanese Civil Society Organizations condemn expulsion of children of migrant workers (September 4, 2014) – Hummus For Thought
- Lebanon Is Deporting Locally Born Children of Migrant Workers, Human Rights Groups Say (September 10, 2014) – Global Voices
- New Exhibit Highlights Struggle of Lebanese of African and Asian heritage (October 18, 2014) – Hummus For Thought
- Lebanon Deports Prominent Unionist, Testing Migrant Workers’ Resolve (December 16, 2016) with Elias Abou Jaoude – Global Voices
- ‘We Are Not Slaves, We Want Our Rights’: Lebanon’s Migrant Domestic Workers March on Labour Day (May 3, 2017) with Hassan Chamoun – Global Voices
- ‘They Beat Me Everyday With an Electric Cable…They Smashed My Head Into the Walls’ (March 31, 2018) by Hassan Chamoun – Global Voices
- 20-year-old Lensa’s Story (April 1, 2018) – Hummus For Thought
- Forced Onto Live TV With Her Employer, a Migrant Domestic Worker in Lebanon Recants Claims of Abuse (April 12, 2018) – Global Voices
- “We are not racists, but” (July 7, 2018) – Hummus For Thought