According to Lebanese rights groups, the ill-reputed sponsorship system of migrant workers, known in Arabic as ‘kafala,’ which dates back to the 1960s, has made it more difficult for the presence of foreign migrant workers to be monitored by the Lebanese government. They have told the media that the government has failed to identify many of the dead bodies of workers at Beirut’s hospitals. There are over 250,000 foreign labourers living in Lebanon and the number of Sri Lankans among them are around 25, 000.
Crises multiply for Sri Lankans in Lebanon
Sri Lankan migrant workers employed in Middle Eastern countries are one of the most vulnerable groups. The recent explosion which caused a 10-kilometre radius of destruction in Beirut, Lebanon have made their situation even direr. There has been a considerable number of foreign migrant workers among the bodies dug up from the Beirut rubble. Many of the victims are thought to have been working at the port or in nearby neighbourhoods at the time of the explosion.
English | August 13, 2020
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