Migrant Workers Hit Hard by Lebanon Crises, UN Warns

Migrant workers in Lebanon have been hit hard by its multiple crises and half of them left jobless, the UN warned Wednesday, calling for voluntary returns to be scaled up. The combined effects of Lebanon’s economic collapse, the COVID-19 pandemic and last year’s deadly Beirut port explosion have worsened already dire living conditions for migrant workers.

The International Organization for Migration found that “50 percent of the respondent migrants reported being unemployed, with the majority losing their jobs in the last quarter of 2020.”

The UN’s migration agency also said more than half of those surveyed said they were unable to meet their food needs, AFP reported.

The plight of migrants workers in Lebanon – including many from the Philippines, Ethiopia, Bangladesh and Sierra Leone – has come under increased scrutiny in recent years over cases of mistreatment.

English | May 27, 2021

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