The following is a testimony from Ednalyn Almazan, a Filipino woman who came to Lebanon in August 2014 to work for Dr. Lina Dakar Mattar, a dermatologist, and her husband Dr. Jean Maurice Mattar, an orthopedic surgeon. After two years of working for the Mattars, she asked to return home to the Philippines but her employers wouldn’t let her. She says she was not allowed any days off, and she says that she suffered physical abuse from her employer after she purchased her own ticket home. She left Lebanon in October 2017, having worked for them for over three years. To this day, she is owed $1,850.

“Hi. I’m Ednalyn Almazan. I started work in Lebanon on 23 August 2014. My employer, Lina Dakar Mattar, is a dermatologist. She has a clinic in Jounieh and in Achrafieh. The family live in Brick Lane, bloc b Hazmieh, and Aqua Marina 1 Tabarja Beach Motel. I worked in Lebanon for more than three years for the same employer. The name of her daughter is Marilyne and her sons are Maurice and Karl. Her husband’s name is Maurice Jean Mattar. He’s a doctor and works in a hospital in Jounieh.

They were nice to me for the first two years so I extended on the understanding that I could go home in Apri 2017.