The current Minister of Labor Lamia Yammine has announced that a new unified contract for migrant domestic workers has been completed, and will soon be announced and implemented. The unified contract is said to have 15 clauses, all of which supposedly amend the flaws in the older version in favor of the migrant domestic workers. This includes the implementation of a standard national wage, and the right for the worker to change her employer at will. Many have hailed this a giant step forward, with some going as far as calling it the abolishment of the Kafala system; but the catch, like most loopholes within Lebanon’s legal infrastructure, is between the lines.
In an interview with Daraj discussing this new contract, Yammine excitedly brushes over the buzzwords that are likely to paint this contract an achievement.