Lebanon deports migrant worker attacked under ‘dehumanizing’ system

BEIRUT (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Black women working in Lebanon routinely face racism, sexism and discrimination stemming from a “dehumanizing” sponsorship system, rights groups said on Monday, after a Kenyan migrant worker who suffered a mob attack was deported.

Lebanese authorities sent Shamila back to Kenya on Sunday because she lost the right to be in the country after leaving an employer that had failed to pay her in full, according to the Anti-Racism Movement (ARM), a local non-government organization.

“Because of the kafala system she was deported - her basic human right to defend herself is being violated,” said Shamila’s lawyer Nermine Sibai by phone from Beirut, referring to the system that binds migrants in Lebanon to one employer.

English | July 16, 2018

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