The 'Fi Shi Ghalat' campaign denounces Lebanon's Kafala System

Title: The 'Fi Shi Ghalat' campaign denounces Lebanon's Kafala System

Byline: Joey Ayoub

Image: Attached

Image Caption: Photo from 'Fi Shi Ghalat's Facebook Page

Image Description: Screenshot from the Campaign

Pull out quote: The two leading causes of death for migrants is suicide [and] dying while trying to escape from employers

Tags: Kafala System, Migrant Rights, Human Rights, Justice, Equality, Sponsorship System

Summary: 5 NGOs are collaborating with the ministry of Social Affairs to condemn the Kafala System

Body Text: (Your blog should be between 350-450 words) [The shorter the better]

The Fi Shi Ghalat campaign was recently launched by five NGOs - Caritas Lebanon Migrant Center, KAFA (enough) Violence & Exploitation, Insan Association, Amel Association International and Anti-Racism Movement - in collaboration with the ministry of social affairs. Their goal? denouncing Lebanon's Kafala System.

Lebanon's treatment of migrant workers has been denounced by humanitarian organizations over and over again. Human Rights Watch's Nadim Houry was quoted as saying that "the two leading causes of death for migrants is suicide [and] dying while trying to escape from employers" and Amnesty International stated in 2012 that "foreign women [in Lebanon] employed as domestic workers continued to face exploitation and abuse, including sexual abuse, by employers and were inadequately protected under the law."

According to statistics compiled by AltCity and Migrant Workers Task Force, and published on GreenProphet.com, 99% of migrant workers are denied freedom of movement, 65% work more than 11 hours per day, 52% are called derogatory terms like hmara (donkey), 34% are not given time off, 31% are not allowed to leave the house, 14% are physically abused and 7% are sexually abused.

The situation has become so critical that five nations have so far banned their citizens from working in Lebanon due to lack of legal protection and concerns over human rights abuse. These nations are: the Philippines (2007), Ethiopia (2008), Nepal and Madagascar (2010), and Kenya (2012). Of course, this does not prevent nationals of these countries from entering Lebanon which puts them under severe risk of abuse.

After the Anti-Racism Movement's campaign against racism and segregation in Lebanese beaches, KAFA's 24/7 helpline for victims of physical and sexual abuse among migrant workers , and many other activist movements such as AUB's Non-Discrimination Club, the Fi Shi Ghalat campaign joined the movement denouncing the grim reality that migrant workers face in Lebanon.

Consisting of a series of short videos, the campaign features citizens of Lebanon voicing their opinion on what is ghalat (wrong) with the situation of migrant rights in Lebanon. The campaign is aiming at both the population and the legal authorities:

"The law and the mentality have to change and that starts with the individual and then the government, we must change the Kafala System!

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