(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — Lebanese Labor Minister Sejaan Azzi called for the urgent need to regulate the employment of migrant workers on Wednesday, calling for enforcement of human rights and dignity for the workers.
“We want to organize migrant labor within the framework of human dignity and the Labor Ministry will be firm in confronting abuses committed by employers against housemaids,” Azzi said at a conference aimed at tackling the conditions of workers.
The conference was held amid increased cases of housemaid suicides in Lebanon. According to Human Rights Watch, about 200,000 domestic workers work in Lebanon. In 2008, HRW recorded an average of one maid death per week in Lebanon by unnatural causes, including suicides.
More than 600 recruitment offices across Lebanon, human rights activists, and NGOs attended the conference.
Azzi said the conference was aimed at opening discussions between the labor ministry and migrant employment offices, some of which are operating illegally and without licenses.
The minister also called on employment offices to remove “indecent and discriminatory” advertisements starting next month, or face a freeze of their transactions.
“It is a shame to keep such offensive banners that give the impression that the business is about human trade,” Azzi said.
Human rights activists called for the abolishment of the Kafala system that ties domestic workers to one employer for the duration of their contracts and does not guarantee them the absolute right to quit.
The activists say that while trying to escape abusive employers or poor working conditions, many migrant domestic workers get killed or commit suicide.
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