Beirut explosion: Kafala system leaves African workers stranded in city in ruins

Women from Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and The Gambia are among those trapped by kafala system

West African domestic workers desperate to return home since a chemical explosion tore through Beirut are finding themselves trapped by the stringent terms of Lebanon’s kafala system which grants employers an immense say over their lives.

Thousands of domestic workers have been abandoned in the last few months by employers hard hit by an economic crisis compounded by the coronavirus pandemic, forcing many to sleep rough or seek shelter in cramped and unsanitary quarters.

English | August 19, 2020

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