In November 2009, one of Future TV's Tawasul [Communicating] episodes was on the situation of women migrant domestic workers in Lebanon.
In that episode (published below, partly in English), International Labor Organization (ILO) senior technical specialist, Ms. Simel Esim calls for the end of the exclusion of domestic workers (not just migrants) from the application of labor laws. Lawyer Rolan Taok who is active on this issue calls for a special tribunal for solving cases of migrant domestic workers with the purpose of speeding up the procedures, as well as an overhaul of the system of employing migrants and abolishing the sponsorship 'kafala' system.
Ms. Simel adds "with the kafala system, you are creating a total dependency of the worker on the employer for her food, sleeping, health, everything... Total dependency creates total vulnerability and opens the door wide to exploitation (...) We always say why are they coming? There are push factors: poverty, unemployment (in their home country)".
Original post with additional comments published here: http://ethiopiansuicides.blogspot.com/2010/04/future-tvs-tawasul-dependency-creates.html - Opens in new tab