Lebanon: Blow to Migrant Domestic Worker Rights

(Beirut) – Lebanon’s State Shura Council, the country’s top administrative court, delivered a sharp blow to migrant domestic worker rights by suspending the implementation of a new standard unified contract, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today. The standard unified contract, which the Labor Ministry adopted on September 8, 2020, included new protections for migrant domestic workers, including vital safeguards against forced labor, and would have been an important first step toward abolishing the abusive kafala (sponsorship) system.

The Syndicate of the Owners of Recruitment Agencies submitted a complaint to the Shura Council on September 21 requesting the council to block and annul the labor minister’s two decisions to adopt the new standard unified contract for migrant domestic workers and to cap the permissible deductions an employer can make from a domestic worker’s salary – equivalent to the national minimum wage – at 30 percent.

The Shura Council on October 14 ruled in favor of the recruitment agencies on the grounds that these decisions comprised “severe damage” to the agencies’ interests. The Council made no reference to the rights of migrant domestic workers, which Lebanon is obliged to protect under international law.

English | October 30, 2020

COMMENTS

SUPPORT OUR WORK

We depend on your donation to fight for domestic workers in Lebanon.