Explosions in Beirut: NGOs call not to forget the disaster-stricken migrant workers

Relentlessly, volunteers of the Anti-Racism Movement (AMR) in Lebanon have struggled for three weeks to find the trace of migrant workers missing after the double explosion that devastated entire parts of the Lebanese capital on August 4. 

"Migrant workers and refugees are systematically dehumanized and marginalized in Lebanon, in life and in death," AMR denounced in a statement. The double explosion of the port of Beirut and its shock wave killed at least 181 people and left more than 6,500 injured, according to the latest report. But several NGOs, including the AMR, pointed out the difficulties in identifying immigrant victims, which were not taken into account in the first official reports, "mainly excluding people of non-Lebanese origin". 

"We counted 13 dead and four missing on our own. They are Filipino, Pakistani, Bengali, Bangladeshi, Indian and a Kenyan woman, probably a domestic worker or a diver in a restaurant. But the number of migrant workers killed in the 'explosion is undoubtedly much higher ", laments Farah Baba, AMR, joined by France 24

Without any means to warn of the disappearance of a loved one

Gutted buildings, collapsed roofs and rubble… The Quarantine district, located near the port of Beirut where the explosion of August 4 resounded, was devastated. It was home to many migrants. "It is a marginalized neighborhood, with precarious and insanitary housing, wedged between the port and the largest open-air dump in Beirut. People already lived there in very poor conditions. Today many do not have nowhere to go, ”says Farah Baba. "Many migrants have lost their personal belongings, not to mention the trauma they have suffered. They no longer have a phone to alert their consulate, NGOs or the media of the disappearance of their relatives", worries the activist.

Faced with the situation, AMR and Amnesty International are calling for urgent help for these foreigners. "We need to help them find shelter, fix their houses, pay their rent and get food and basic necessities."

(2/2) The urgency to immediately evacuate migrant workers in #Lebanon is at its peak today with the catastrophic impact of the #Beirut_explosion, the financial collapse and the coronavirus crisis.
NGOs alone cannot & should not handle the job and duty of governments & consulates.

Amid an acute economic crisis affecting the entire Lebanese population, aggravated by the explosion that left hundreds of thousands of people homeless in Beirut, aid organizations fear that migrant workers will be forgotten by the authorities .

NGOs call on the government to respond

For Diala Haidar, Amnesty international campaigner in Lebanon, contacted by France 24, international aid should be used as a priority to help these populations who are "the least privileged in the country" and who "need immediate aid". 

Distribution of basic necessities, night with locals, crowdfunding to pay for return tickets to migrants on the street ... "Our civil society is very active and we have associations that come to their aid, but solidarity should not rest on the shoulders of NGOs alone, the government must react ", recalls Diala Haidar. 

On the street in front of their consulate

In front of the Kenyan consulate, since August 10, dozens of former domestic workers have been camping, accompanied by a few children. Some of these women were injured in the explosion and lost their homes. The others were ruthlessly kicked out by their ex-bosses due to the economic crisis. 

The plight of migrant domestic workers in #Lebanon, including Kenyan workers who have been protesting since yesterday in front of their consulate in #Beirut, seeking repatriation & unable to pay for a flight back to their home country must be immediately resolved. pic.twitter.com/2aEdiiFeyT

They don't have enough to pay for a return ticket and sleep there, hoping that the authorities in their country will be able to repatriate them. "Despite multiple reminders to the government, nothing has changed ... for months we have been asking the State to coordinate with the embassies of the countries of origin to speed up the repatriation process of domestic workers thrown into the country. the street, ”laments Diala Haidar. 

Demands of the workers in #Gambian #Lebanon:
"We want to go home Enough is enough." # EvacuateNow #SendUsHome

مطالب العاملات المهاجرات من غامبيا العالقات في في لبنان :
"نريد العودة إلى بلدنا الآن!" pic.twitter.com/pwnCzD18Qo

Lebanon is frequently accused of laxity in the face of the exploitation of foreign domestic workers, denounced for a long time by human rights associations. In particular, they demand the abolition of the "kafala" system. It allows an employer to become the legal sponsor of his employee in Lebanon and the latter cannot resign without his authorization. Nothing prevents the employer from confiscating his passport, leaving him entirely at his mercy.

Currently, some 250,000 migrant workers are employed under this system, which deprives them of the provisions of labor law. Some are paid as little as $ 150 a month.

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