The clauses stipulated in the contract sound promising, although they do not tackle enough factors regarding the murderous discrimination of the migrant domestic workers in Lebanon to get to a stage where the Kafala system can be said to be abolished.
Zeina was sitting out on the street, on a narrow sidewalk that did not provide any space for her stuff, without a bathroom or a shelter to protect her. “The Madam did not let me take my three bags. She also took my phone that I had bought from my salary, as well as my passport…”
The economic crisis that the country is suffering through has weighed heavily on migrant workers; because of the lack of dollars, they are unable to send money back to their countries, because converting the Lebanese currency to the dollar at currency exchange offices means losing a large portion of its value.
