Sitting in the open air outside the Consulate may mitigate the risks of catching Covid-19 but even so, many women do not have access to the masks and hand sanitizer they desperately need. NGOs deliver what they can but supplies are scarce, and the domestic workers only receive what is left at the end of the day. It is not enough to go round.
There are around 250,000 migrant workers living in Lebanon. Some work illegally, but most are employed under the country’s Kafala sponsorship system. This system fuses a worker to one employer and in the process, their rights and agency are removed. The employer takes hold of the worker’s passport and they can only be fired, they can never quit. This in turn often leads to abuses according to Amnesty International: