FPCI Chapter UI Diplomatic Review #7
Written by Diva Azahro (Research and Analysis Division)
Background (The case of Faustina Tay)
On the 14th of March 2020, Faustina Tay was found dead in the car park of her employer’s home in Beirut, Lebanon. Her last known message to the public was, “God, please help me.” Faustina Tay was a 23-year-old Ghanian domestic worker who had been seeking escape out of poverty and work as a domestic worker in Lebanon. She worked in Beirut in the home of Hussein Dia for 10 months before she threw herself from the balcony to land on her head into her death. Her employer, Dia, reported that he had no idea as to why she would take her own life, and claimed themselves innocent as he’s “never laid a hand on her”. However, Tay’s last messages to her brother prove otherwise.
In the week leading to her death, Tay had sent numerous texts and over 40 minutes of voice messages to her brother that consisted of gruesome details of the domestic abuse she had been experiencing ever since she landed in Beirut 10 months ago. Dia, along with other superiors in her domestic workers agency, Kamal and Hussein, had taken turns to physically beat her twice in the months she was working as a domestic worker. While employed in Dia’s home, Tay did not even have her own room and suffered from inhumane working hours. She slept on a sofa in the kitchen, was granted no days off, isolated from the outside world while confiscated from her phone, and on good days, would have enough time to sleep at 2 am only to be woken up at 8 am. Tay was beaten each time she asked to leave to return home to her country, on January 16 and March 6, when she was promised to return had she worked another 2 more months. That promise was paid with torture, and Tay returned home in a coffin.
The case of Faustina Tay’s death is only one of the two cases per week in Lebanon’s account of 250,000 foreign domestic workers. These workers come from African and Asian countries such as the Philippines, Nepal, and Ethiopia who, like Tay, are seeking to escape poverty by receiving enough abroad, to eventually return a rich man. Moreover, like Tay, foreign domestic workers in Lebanon are employed under the Kafala system. In this Diplomatic Review, the writer will discuss the kafala system, its modern practice, the abuse of the system, efforts and approach to the system, and the role Indonesia plays in the kafala system.
WHAT IS THE KAFALA SYSTEM?
The kafala system was established in the 1930s as a long-rooted tradition from the warm Bedouin culture of local hospitality. Otherwise now translated as the sponsorship system, the kafala system was a remarkable pride of Bedouin generosity in which the locals would offer foreigners shelter and safety, or even guarding alliance with certain tribes as they passed a governed territory. However, over the years, the celebration of such selfless practice of such vibrant culture has slowly condensed to what is known today as Lebanon’s modern-day slavery as its distinctive nobleness is replaced with exploitation.
The present-day kafala system in Lebanon acts as a sponsorship system that contracts the residency and employment between a migrant employee and their local employer. As by the name “kafala” which comes from the word “kafeel” meaning sponsor in Arabic, foreign domestic workers are required to be sponsored to enter Lebanon. This means that domestic workers must be invited, through an agency or through the request of an individual employer who acts as the worker’s sponsor. Under the kafala system, a migrant worker’s whole legal residency and status within the country are fastened to their sponsor, otherwise known as their “kafeel” in Arabic. Under all circumstances, the name of the sponsor is imprinted on all legal documents of the migrant worker, such as their entry visa, their residence arrangements as well as their work grants and permits. Ideally, sponsors are expected to be accountable for any budgetary and legal circumstances migrant domestic workers may face in the country. Responsibilities as a sponsor incorporate updating and maintaining the employment and residence permits of the worker, securing the worker’s insurance, reporting to immigration authorities regarding current status or whether the worker absconds, and ensures the return of the worker to their home country.
For the course of the current time period, the kafala system operates as the only and single legitimate basis for the status of residency and employment of migrant domestic workers within the country. Practically, the kafala system, as a confining immigration jurisdiction of laws, guidelines, and customary practices, ties migrant workers’ whole legal residency and status to their employer. as migrant workers, for decades, have explicitly been excluded from the Lebanese Labour Law (Article 7). Under Article 92 of the Labour Law, migrant workers are also deprived off their right to freedom of association and banned from union membership. The main foundation of the migrant worker’s rights in Lebanon would be The Standard Unified Contract which was advised by The Ministry of Labour. This contract covers the worker’s right to a clean and private environment to support their living conditions, sufficient food, ensured medical care, health insurance, appropriate working hours, annual and weekly days off, and a return ticket at the end of working period. Nevertheless, these points still do not meet international human rights and labor standards as the contract also refuses to mention the stipulation of any free legal assistance for the migrant worker. It is for this reason that migrant workers are the most vulnerable subjects to labour exploitation as they stand no legal grounds for cases of contract violations by the employer. Unfortunately, these cases happen far too often with no negotiated closure.
THE MODERN KAFALA SYSTEM
Although engrossed in the local culture, the modern kafala system started to twiddle at the roots prior to the beginning of the Lebanese Civil War. At these times, little girls of fortunate families from Lebanon or neighbouring countries such as Palestine, Egypt, and Syria who were as young as ten were utilized as domestic workers in Lebanese families. Their salaries would then be collected annually by their parents until they were off to marriage. During the Lebanese Civil War of 1975–1990, many of these Arab domestic workers would flee Lebanon for their safety. With an economic decline and a security crisis, many Lebanese families were left with no help at home, as well as other vacancies in the secondary job market. It is during these crises of supply of workers, mainly domestic, in Lebanon that the kafala culture was reintroduced as a working permit that allowed foreigners mainly from Africa and Asia to reconnect the equilibrium between the demand and supply of workers in Lebanon. This reconnection acts as a sponsorship framework’s initial monetary goal was to be able to provide transitory, alternative jobs that could quickly nourish financial prosperity into the nation during less wealthy periods. This would also initiate the reason behind the lack of lawful protection within the kafala system as its initial goal was to instantly regain economic nourishment after the war.
Initially, during the late 70s and 80s, the most notable percentage of workers were male. However, during and after the war, the position of household helpers, which had almost always been occupied by rural young girls, has started to be perceived as a shameful job. It was through this moral assumption that the demand for female domestic workers expanded a feminization in the foreign workforce. As indicated by the report “A Profile of Sustainable Human Development in Lebanon” by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in January 1997, foreign work in Lebanon establishes an “enormous presence”. The report characterized laborers regarding their significant areas of action as follows:
- Mostly female workers from Sri Lanka, the Philippines, India, and African nations provide domestic help in households and comparative benefits in business foundations;
- Male nationals of Egypt, Sudan, and Syria function as janitors, cleaners, watchmen, etcetera in structures and business enterprises;
- Syrian and Egyptian male workers work in construction, agriculture, road construction and development, vehicle service provider, cleaning and trash assortment, and repair and maintenance workshops, as well as merchants and doormen;
- Western Europeans, some Arab and other far off nationals (male and female) occupy jobs in areas that require logical abilities or money related methods (UNDP, 1997).
In the current time period, at least 250,000 migrant domestic workers are estimated to be working in Lebanon to fill in the occupations which are redeemed as undesirable by the locals for their heavy and dangerous nature.
For domestic workers, their field can be characterized into three kinds: live-ins, free-lancers, and runaways. Live-in laborers live in or with the household of the sponsor for a certain period of time. During their employment, the sponsor is liable for all budgetary expenses and has a great deal of control of the laborer, such as health insurance, food, clothing, and airfare. In many cases, the sponsor secures the worker’s passport and other documents, limiting the worker’s right to request for another employer, as well as their right to leave the country.
On the other hand, a freelancer has more power in their independence in terms of working conditions. They reside on their own by renting or sharing rooms, and work on an hourly basis instead of a fixed longer term. With a freelancer status, foreign workers are granted more flexibility in how they work and who they work for. However, it is still under the kafala law that they are required to stay in the country with the permission of a sponsor, which is why in order to compensate for their freedom, many freelancers pay local businesses to act as their sponsor on paper, but will theoretically allow freedom of work and movement. Though it seems lighter, many migrant workers are financially unable to opt as a freelancer in Lebanon. To remain as a legal worker, these freelancers are still required to work under a sponsor. As a result, many freelancers would have to pay local men in order to register as their sponsors who would let them live on their own. In other words, these freelancers have to pay more in return to their freedom of movement. Consequently, many local men have taken advantage of the law to charge migrant workers as high as US$1200 to act as their sponsor. Although safe from any possible domestic abuse, these migrant freelancers are still not legally protected.
As by their name, runaway foreign laborers are those who have run away from their former employers. These previously live-in foreign workers have escaped the homes of their employers mainly as a victim of domestic abuse. They take refuge in places such as embassies or NGO’s, but many of these victims are left with little to no choice to survive in Lebanon. As a runaway worker, these victims are close to being classified as illegal persons who live in Lebanon without any legal documents. To escape such a situation, the only legal choice available is that the migrant worker obtains a new sponsor or obtains a laissez-passer from her embassy which would allow them to leave the country. However, in both cases, passports, visas, and money are heavily involved but such requirements are usually in the hands of the sponsor.
THE ABUSE OF AND WITHIN THE KAFALA SYSTEM
In practice, the kafala system receives a handful of criticism for how much power it awards its sponsors and how much potential they have in their hands to proceed as legal human exploitation. While employers are the primary operators in the system, migrant workers take risks and make sacrifices as participants desperate for jobs. Sadly, the system provides little to no accountability that would require employers to treat workers with dignity, to pay them on time, or to give them time off from work. The recruitment of the kafala system involves private recruitment and employment agents. These agents charge substantial fees and commissions. The absence of laws affirming the kafala system has allowed many locals to enjoy easy profit-making from selling their citizen statuses as sponsors to those in need. It has allowed the locals to benefit from taking advantage of those in desperate need. They cultivate and feed off of the relationship of dependency between workers and employers because this dependency earns them a living. In other words, agents are beneficiaries of the relationship between employers and workers as they make a business out of finding cheap labour, most likely also run-aways, to sell into the Lebanese market.
In addressing the issue of the lack of employee rights in the kafala system, it is best to review the treatment and conditions given to the workers under the kafala system. Out of all of the migrant workers, it is the ones who work in the domestic field who suffer the worst working conditions in Lebanon. Furthermore, the female live-in migrant domestic labourers are completely vulnerable to domestic abuse. Domestic workers are obliged to perform household tasks such as make the bed, wash and iron clothes, broom and mop the floors, vacuum and wash carpets, dust furniture, assist in meal preparation and cleaning, look after the children, and all other sorts of traditional house chores. However, many employers also require more effort. These include picking the children up from school, shop at the local store and/or accompany their employers to the supermarket, and prepare for family meals wholly on their own. The execution of such tasks is very much open to demanding criticism as standards and taste of perfection varies between employers. If employers are not patient, constant criticism of tasks performed could come out as a weighing load of harassment and pressure for the foreign worker.
Just like the case of Faustina Tay above, many other domestic migrant workers suffer the same hours of work. In a survey of 70 Sri Lankan domestic workers in Lebanon conducted by Jureidini & Moukarbel in 2001 an average of 16–17 hours of work per day was found aside to their order to be available 24/7, meaning that many sleeps later than their employers and wake up earlier in order to prepare and clean without disturbing the inhabitants. In the same study previously mentioned, it is also concluded that 88% of them reported being granted no days off a week. It is of very rare cases, even outside the Sri Lankan group of migrant domestic workers, these vulnerable groups are given time to rest and have leisure time In some cases, migrant domestic workers are allowed a couple of hours of Sunday morning for worship, but even in these cases the employer and their families are in company. The freedom of mobility of a foreign domestic worker is often fully dependent on the employer, so is their freedom of expression as restrictions to communicate with friends, family, and the outside world is often practiced.
The uncanny resemblance of the kafala system to the human trade continues as cases of domestic employees being ordered to work in the homes of their employers’ relatives and/or being traded/presented as helpers for new relatives are not uncommon. Among the other forms of mistreatment of migrant domestic workers in Lebanese households, excess workload, withheld salaries, overtime with no pay, untreated medical and dental needs, confiscation of passports, verbal abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and even murder, all operate under the unequal privilege of the kafala system.
The COVID-19 pandemic followed by its trail of economic crisis has worsened conditions for migrant domestic workers in Lebanon. According to Human Rights Watch, reports of abuse have increased since May as workers at home are seen as a scapegoat to the anger that fuels among families due to lockdown stress, while many others have reported overworked with their salaries being held. In addition to these cases, front yards of consulates and embassies in Lebanon have been pooled by migrant workers as employers leave them abandoned often without money, passports and belongings, and without return tickets.
The power imbalance permitted by the kafala system recognizes very little bargaining power for the domestic worker to complain of such issues. They are not even legally allowed to withdraw their labor, seek other employers, or even resign. In Lebanon’s Standard Unified Contract, it is mentioned that there are three specific situations in which a domestic worker may unilaterally terminate their contract, including nonpayment of wages for three consecutive months or more, physical or sexual abuse under medical certification, and/or employment in a capacity other than domestic work without consent. However, regrettably, these laws do not explicitly justify the rights of foreign domestic workers. As a result, in many cases within the kafala system, foreign domestic workers are still required to obtain their employer’s notarized “release” in order to seek work for another sponsor. Even in abusive situations, migrant domestic labourers are not granted the legal choice to proceed on a lawful basis without a specific court order. Due to the lack of legal protection, most victims of the abuse of the kafala system are trapped in situations of forced labor with running away as their only escape from their traumatic workplace, but not from Lebanon. Their life is then left unpromised on the streets of a country they remain foreign in.
EFFORTS AND APPROACH TO THE KAFALA SYSTEM
For the longest period of time, migrant workers in Lebanon have been excluded from Lebanon’s Labor Ministry. Proof lies in Lebanon’s law on Labour rights which explicitly mentions that domestic workers are exempted from the law, hence all migrant workers are fully under the royal power of sponsors. This exposes the migrant workers to being the most vulnerable subject to exploitations as they have no rights of their own. Though aware and treaties have been signed, the Lebanese government; has yet to apply any effective or even real policies to protect the migrant workers within the country.
The Human Rights Watch (HRW), a working body from the International Labour Organization, has long documented the abuses of the kafala system in Lebanon. Many policy papers have been submitted by various organizations towards the Lebanese government to abolish the system, the most recent one being an action plan. Established on April 2019 by the Human Rights Watch, along with then-Labor Minister Camille Abousleiman, the action plan consists of steps to abolishing the sponsorship system. The first step is to standard unified contract for migrant domestic workers that protects the rights of migrant workers by embracing the international human rights and labor standards, allowing workers to terminate their contract without the consent of their employer, enjoy a weekly rest day, overtime pay, sick pay, annual leave, and a wage protected by the national minimum wage. Lebanese Labour Minister, Lamia Yammine, announced that the new contract will be adopted as of 21st September 2020. However, the ministry is yet to release the new unified contract. Later on October, the state Shura Council of Lebanon opposed to the implementation of the new, unreleased contract without proper reasoning, continuing to disappoint many human right activists.
In the light of the tunnel, however, the civil Lebanese society has shone more efforts and concerns towards the need for justice for migrant workers. Grassroots organizations have played a bigger role than the Lebanese government in ending the abuse of the kafala system. In 2010, Migrant Workers Task Force (MWTF) was established and took part in advocacy on behalf of domestic migrant workers and initiated an online campaign under the hashtag of #StopKafala in 2014. The organization then merged with the Migrant Community Center, an initiative by the Anti-Racism Movement that set up three to offer practical courses, community activities, and networking for migrant workers in order to secure their worth.
The most influential organization goes under the name This Is Lebanon (TIL). In a project by Domestic Workers Unite (DWU), TIL’s Facebook page first emerged as a hotline for dissatisfied migrant workers in Lebanon reported by their families in their home countries. TIL soon expanded into bigger means by supporting victims with legal and medical referrals, as well as emergency protection. They aim to endlessly campaign and advocate through national and international media in exposing the abuse of the kafala system. However, without the governments help and proper affirmative actions, the kafala system is still a long-standing, legal pavement for modern slavery which continues to abuse 2 migrant workers per week in Lebanon.
KAFALA SYSTEM AND INDONESIA
Migrant workers in Indonesia enjoy a different treatment from the labour system that differs from the one in Lebanon. Undesirable or secondary jobs in Indonesia are still filled with the locals while the migrants usually take the rewarding jobs. However, according to a study conducted by the World Bank in 2017, Indonesia is concluded as one of the world’s largest migrant worker communities with an estimated amount of 9 million Indonesians working abroad. This number takes into account both documented and undocumented workers which is equivalent to almost 7 percent of Indonesia’s total labor force. The majority of sectors in which migrant Indonesian workers crowd vary in the informal and secondary sectors with 39 percent of migrant Indonesian workers overseas working as maids and babysitters, 19 percent of them as farm workers, and 18 percent of them as construction workers.
Even though Indonesian workers do not experience the kafala system in Lebanon, they do experience it in other Middle Eastern countries that follow the kafala system. Globally, 55 percent of migrant Indonesian workers settle in Malaysia making it the biggest destination for potential migrant workers in Indonesia. This country is then followed by Saudi Arabia with over 13 percent of Indonesian workers, mainly women, working in the domestic sector of the receiving country. Like Lebanon, Saudi Arabia also follows the kafala system in welcoming migrant labour. While Saudi Arabia has just recently taken measures to raise the exploitative system in November 2020, it is not delusional to say that many Indonesian migrant workers have already been a victim of the kafala system as the World Bank study has shown that 26 percent of Indonesian female domestic workers in Saudi Arabia have had to endure long working hours, 52 percent were not granted any days off, and 88 percent were not rewarded payment for overtime work. Moreover, female domestic workers in the Middle East earn less than those who migrate to other countries.
Thankfully, Indonesia recognizes the importance of protecting its migrant workers abroad and has taken measures as needed. In 2015, Indonesia settled a ban for informal workers, including domestic workers, from traveling to work in 20 countries where they face high levels of abuse and exploitation. These countries included Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, and Bahrain, which follow the kafala system and share the biggest demand for domestic helpers. However, many Indonesian workers still travel to the middle east illegally as undocumented workers on the promise of employment. As an effort to reduce illegal workers abroad, 2018, the Indonesian Government has arranged to lift the ban with the promise that the rights of migrant Indonesian domestic workers are protected. These would be that the number of domestic workers sent to the Middle East are limited, working hours are limited to as such of those in the white-collar jobs, and that maids will also no longer be allowed to stay in their employers’ homes to ensure their physical and mental health[1].
As a supplier country, Indonesia has taken the measures needed to save its workers from domestic oppression abroad under the kafala system, and Saudi Arabia itself has recently taken action to fully lift the system and protect migrant workers. With progressive actors in the market of domestic labour, the future of migrant Indonesian workers in Saudi Arabia is set to be brighter. However, the story may not be the same for Lebanon. As two migrant workers die each week among the 250,000 migrant workers actively occupying Lebanon’s demand of unwanted jobs, the exploitive kafala system remains as the single legal basis of the rights of migrant workers in the country. The lockdown implemented during the Covid-19 pandemic has been a salt to burn in the abusive cases of the most vulnerable group of labourers, the female domestic workers. Though humble grassroots organizations have helped a plentiful of victims, there seems little to no hope for migrant workers in Lebanon while the local government continues to ignore all progressive actions as shown as recently as last month.
REFERENCES:
Beza L. Nisrane, Ringo Ossewaarde, Ariana Need. (2020) The exploitation narratives and coping strategies of Ethiopian women return migrants from the Arabian Gulf. Gender, Place & Culture 27:4, pages 568–586.
Esim, S., & Smith, M. (2004). Gender and migration in Arab states.’The case of domestic workers. International Labour Organisation, Regional Office for Arab States, p.65.
Indonesia’s global workers : juggling opportunities and risks (English). Washington, D.C. :World Bank Group. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/946351511861382947/Indonesia-s-global-workers-juggling-opportunities-and-risks
Jureidini, Ray, “Women Migrant Domestic Workers in Lebanon,” International Migration Papers, International Labour Office: Geneva.
Mezher, T. (1997). Sustainable development strategies for Lebanon. Sustainable Development, 5(2), 55–64.
(2012). Responding to emerging and critical issues 1 Policy Brief No . 2 : REFORM OF THE KAFALA ( SPONSORSHIP ) SYSTEM.
