Keriya’s family contacted This Is Lebanon on 23 December 2018. They were worried because Keriya, an Ethiopian national, had been in Lebanon for six years. She had finished her contract. Why hadn’t she come home? Why hadn’t she sent them any money for six months? 

This Is Lebanon began to investigate. We contacted Keriya’s employer who said: “I asked Keriya many times if she wanted to return home, but she always said no,” alleging that Keriya had stayed working for them of her own free will.

This Is Lebanon insisted that the employer had to register Keriya officially at the Lebanese General Security, the institution which handles work and living permits, and sort out all her documents. If the employer didn’t agree to do this, and to pay Keriya’s outstanding salary, This Is Lebanon would expose the employer on Facebook.

The employer agreed, and Keriya flew home to her family in Ethiopia in April 2019.