Sad...

This story makes me appreciate the kindness of my in-laws even more.  Most maids do not return after their contract ends, but one of my brothers-in-law has had the same maid for nearly 30 years.  She is seriously part of the family.  He has also had another one for more than ten years, as well.  Too bad others don't treat their servants with the same care and respect. 

The Daily Star - Lebanon News - Rights watchdog blasts abuse of foreign workers in Lebanon

Rights watchdog blasts abuse of foreign workers in Lebanon
By Inter Press Service

Wednesday, October 15, 2008


Rights watchdog blasts abuse of foreign workers in Lebanon

Mona Alami

Inter Press Service

BEIRUT: "My maid is extremely ugly, I can't fight the urge to slap her when I see her early in the morning," boasts a Lebanese trader from Ain Anoub village just outside Beirut. He laughs.

It gets worse. A recent report by Human Rights Watch showed that at least 95 migrant domestic workers have died in Lebanon since January 2007. About 40 of the cases were classified as suicides, while 24 were described as workers falling from high-rise buildings, often in an attempt to escape their employers.

Having Sri Lankan, Filipino and Ethiopian workers at home is a matter of social status in Lebanon. Most of them earn less than the $300 monthly minimum wage.

A 2006 survey of 600 domestic workers in Lebanon by professor Ray Jureidini from the American University in Cairo reported by Human Rights Watch found that 52 percent of domestic workers were verbally abused. Over 55 percent of workers interviewed worked more than 12 hours a day, with over 21 percent working more than 15 hours a day.

The study showed 34 percent of respondents did not have regular time off; 42 percent had a day off a week; 4 percent had time off every two weeks, and 2 percent once every four weeks. Many were not allowed a minimum degree of privacy, with 9 percent sleeping in the living room and 6 percent in the kitchen.

"While one of the less frequent violations is employers not providing housekeepers with their own space, the most common is retaining their wages or delaying payments, followed by forced confinement," says Nadim Houry, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.

In one reported incident of abuse in May this year a couple living in Qoreitem - one of the capital's most affluent neighborhoods and the scene of intense gun battles - locked their housemaid in their apartment with only a few days' supply of food while they fled to safety.

Karunawati Welagader, a Sri Lankan domestic worker, says her sister, employed in the household of a government official, was constantly on the verge of depression until she returned to her home country.

"My sister's case is not unusual in a country like Lebanon; her living conditions were probably much better than other workers, who besides being locked in are often not fed or clothed properly."

Lebanese children with Asian maids are a common sight in Beirut at restaurants, classy beach resorts or on the way to school. Lebanese women seem to trust domestic workers when it comes to their children, but not when it comes to property. This may explain why the passports of an estimated 85 percent foreign workers are confiscated by their employers. They are held to prevent a housekeeper stealing and running away.

Houry says physical abuse is another violation, though less frequent, and one that sometimes leads to molestation and rape. The study found the female employer hit her domestic helper in 61 percent of cases, followed by the male employer (23 percent) and children (11 percent).

In the Jureidini study 14 percent of respondents admitted to being abused. About 7 percent said they had been sexually harassed. "But this figure might be higher as many cases go unreported," says Houry. In 64 percent of the cases it was the male employer who harassed his hired help, and in 21 percent, a son.

In Verdun, another rich Beirut neighborhood, a teenager at one of the foreign schools jokes about his friend prostituting his parents' Sri Lankan housekeeper. "My friend offers his maid's services for a given price. Most of his friends have had a sexual experience with the housekeeper at one time or another when the parents were out."

Foreign domestic workers in Lebanon have almost no protection. Under Lebanese law, foreign domestic workers are not entitled to minimum wage, and are excluded from labor laws and regulation. "Domestic workers are dying in Lebanon at a rate of more than one per week," says Houry.