Lebanon's new domestic worker contract: End to 'kafala slavery'?

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Exploitative laws in the country's 'kafala' labour system leave a worker at the employer's mercy. FMTNews Lebanon

A domestic worker cleans the stairs of a shop in the area of Jounieh north of Beirut last year.

They are not protected by the country’s labour law, but instead work under a set of laws, policies and customs called kafala, repeatedly slammed by rights groups as allowing a wide range of abuse. After the Aug 4 blast at Beirut’s port that devastated swathes of the capital and killed more than 190 people, foreign workers have staged rallies outside their consulates appealing to be sent home.

“It is no doubt a much better version than the older one,” said Amnesty International researcher Diala Haidar. But “a contract alone doesn’t end kafala”. It limits labour to eight hours a day in a six-day week, and details the right to daily rest, paid holidays and sick leave.But activists warn that all these new provisions will amount to nothing without inspections and unless employers violating the agreement are held accountable.The old contract, for example, states the worker must receive their wages at the end of the month, but this had not stopped some from kicking out workers without pay.

 

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