Malgaches au Liban : dans l’enfer de l’esclavage اغتصاب وتعذيب الخادمات المدغشقريات في لبنان

Depuis la crise politique malgache en 2009, les conditions de vie à Madagascar se sont détériorées. Pour prêter main forte à leurs familles, des milliers de jeunes filles migrent au Liban pour travailler comme domestiques. Mais une fois sur place, elles vivent un véritable enfer. Maltraitées, battues, violées, elles subissent toutes formes de violences. Après de longues tractations, elles ont finalement accepté de se confier à Afrik.com. Enquête.

http://www.afrik.com/malgaches-au-liban-dans-l-enfer-de-l-esclavage

أجرت أساناتو بالادي تحقيقاً [بالفرنسية] في مأساة الصغيرات المدغشقريات اللائي يهاجرن إلى لبنان هربا من الكارثة الاجتماعية في مدغشقر. يجمع هذا التقرير كل دلائل التعذيب والإيذاء الجسدي، بالإضافة للإهانات المتكررة، وظروف العمل بالغة السوء، وإجبارهن على ممارسة الجنس مع الحيوانات.

 Assanatou Baldé investigates [fr] the plight of young Malagasy girls migrating to Lebanon to escape the social crisis in Madagascar. Other testimonies of torture and physical abuse are collected in the report, including recurring insults, overwhelming working conditions and forced intercourse with animals.

قانون الاتجار بالبشر كمدخل لإنصاف العاملات في المنازل

سيدة مدغشقرية تنظر إلى صورتين (قبل وبعد) لقريبتها الشابة، التي تعمل في الخدمة المنزلية في لبنان، ويشك بأنها قتلت في منزل ربّ عملها

جريدة السفير، سعدى علوه، 29-12-2011

هبطت الطائرة الآتية من العاصمة السريلانكية كولومبو، فحملت ديفراني سامراني حقيبتها الصغيرة، وتوجهت عبر الممر الصغير باتجاه صالة الاستقبال. «أهلا بكم في مطار بيروت الدولي»، قالتها إحدى المضيفات باللغتين العربية والإنكليزية، ومع ذلك، لم تصدق ديفراني ما يحصل معها.
كانت السيدة الأربعينية قد تقدمت بطلب إلى أحد مكاتب الاستخدام في سريلانكا مشترطة إرسالها للعمل في إحدى دول الخليج، وبالتحديد الكويت.
كانت العاملة المنزلية ديفراني، قد قضت إبان حرب الخليج، عشرة أعوام في كنف إحدى الأسر الكويتية، خرجت منها بتجربة «ممتازة» على صعيد المعاملة الشخصية والحقوق المالية: «كنت كابنة لهم»، تقول. ولذلك، أرادت العودة للعمل في البلد عينه، وها هي تجد نفسها في بيروت من دون أن توافق، أو حتى تدري.

BBC: 'Slave maid' in Lebanon

Forced to work as a "slave maid" for wealthy families in Lebanon for 15 years, Abeline Baholiarisoa - a 59-year-old woman from Madagascar - finally achieved her freedom in March.

Original BBC report here.

Madagascar's government chartered a plane to evacuate her and 85 other women.

The youngest of her four children, whom she left behind when he was six years old, played a key role in her evacuation, tracking her down via a welfare agency that rescues "slave maids", she says.

Ms Baholiarisoa says she was trapped in "a living hell" after being duped into going to Lebanon.

A recruiting agency had promised her a nursing job for three years, with a salary of $800 (£486) a month.

Ms Baholiarisoa says she thought it would give her a chance to save money, which she could send to her children.

الإساءة إلى العاملات الأجنبيات في لبنان مستمرة بلا قانون يجرّمها وينظّم المهنة: قصصٌ من يومياتهن مع "الكفيل" و"المخدوم" وصولاً إلى اللا - تحقيق في جرائم القتل!

حيواتهن بيننا تنمو على حافة الموت ظلماً (فادي أبو غليوم)

جريدة السفير، 2 آب 2011، نبيل المقدم
لم يكن قد مضى أكثر من ستة أشهر على مباشرة «كلارا» العمل في منزل مخدومها في غزير، في قضاء كسروان، عندما قررت الهروب بـ»أي ثمن». انتظرت الصبية الفيليبينية خلود سكان المنزل الى النوم، ورمت بنفسها من الطابق الثاني. وعلى الرغم من التواء ساقها، أكملت «كلارا» فرارها، مستقلة سيارة أجرة إلى بيروت.
تقول «كلارا» لـ»السفير» إن عملها «كان يبدأ عند السادسة صباحاً، ويمتد حتى منتصف الليل». ولم تحصل خلال ستة أشهر أمضتها في العمل على راتبها كاملاً سوى مرة واحدة، ولكنها «حظيت» بالكثير من «الصفع والركل من صاحب المنزل وزوجته بسبب مطالبتها بأجرها». طبعاً، كانت «كلارا» تنام في المطبخ، مفتقدةً أي خصوصية حياتية.
يسلّم مسؤولون رسميون وحقوقيون وناشطون في مجال حماية الفئات المهمشة، ومن ضمنها العاملات في المنازل، بأن انتهاك حقوقهم يشكل ظاهرة مقلقة في لبنان، لناحية تعرّضهم لـ»باقة» كبيرة من الإساءات الجنسية والاقتصادية والنفسية والجسدية.
وفي ظل استثنائهن من قانون العمل اللبناني،

The aftermath of repatriation from Lebanon...

Madagascar to export labour to Jordan

The government of Madagascar will send 3,000 workers to Jordan by the end of the year, a minister has said.

Public Function, Labour and Social Regulations minister Henri Rasamoelina, made the announcement barely four months after the government repatriated some 85 domestic workers who had been subjected to abuse in Lebanon.

(...)


New tack on domestic workers’ pay terms proposed

(...)

Since the repatriation of domestic workers from Lebanon in 2006, the Philippine government formulated the HSW Reform package that gives would-be domestic workers pre-departure training and certification and language and culture training.

 

The said package also set the minimum age of Filipino domestic workers to be 23 years old; attendance to a comprehensive pre-departure education program (CPDEP); waiving of paying placement fees; and requiring employers to pay US$400 minimum.

 

(...)

Attempted suicide today in Beirut?

UPDATE:

US Charges Madagascar Doing Little to Stop Forced Labor

Hannah McNeish | Antananarivo, Madagascar

Former nurse Abeline Baholiarisoa, 59, spent 15 years trapped as a slave maid in Lebanon

A U.S. report on human trafficking has placed Madagascar in the lowest category and claims the country's de facto government has done nothing to crack down on the practice of sending thousands of women to the Middle East, where the majority of them encounter forced labor and abuse.  The new report reduces prospects of the U.S. resuming non-humanitarian aid to the island nation, to which it suspended aid in 2009 following a coup.

The new report claims Madagascar has increasingly become “a source country for women and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking,"

Lebanese society is deeply racist and must tackle discrimination, report says

By Simona Sikimic, Daily Star staff, Tuesday, March 22, 2011

BEIRUT: An EU-funded report released Monday has criticized Lebanese society for rampant racism perpetrated against an estimated 1 million migrant workers in the country and upheld by gaps and loopholes in national law.

“There is an urgent need for developing meaningful strategies to address racist harassment, stereotyping and discrimination,” said the “Culture of Racism in Lebanon” study compiled by Italian Solidarity in the World (COSV) and a collection of leading Lebanese human rights NGOs.

Lebanese authorities must clearly define racism in legislation, identify the number of cases, set out legal consequences and judicial mechanisms to prosecute

BBC: Madagascar maids escape Lebanon عاملات من مدغشقر يرحلن من لبنان بسبب سوء المعاملة

BBC 24 March 2011

A plane carrying 86 Madagascan domestic workers, who say they have suffered abuse in Lebanon, has arrived in the capital, Antananarivo.

Madagascar's government chartered the plane following the death of 17 maids in the past year, reports the AFP news agency.
"My boss used to hit me and didn't give me my salary. I'm very, very happy to be back home," said Leonie, 25.
Some 7,000 Madagascans are said to be working in Lebanon.
"There have been a lot of deaths," said Prime Minister Camille Vital.
The population ministry said it had received 600 requests to be sent home from maids who had fled their employers, AFP reports.
In 2009, Human Rights Watch called on the Lebanese government to investigate the deaths of foreign domestic workers in the country.
The previous year, it said that one foreign maid was dying each week.

الخميس، 24 مارس/ آذار

حطت بمطار عاصمة مدغشقر أنتاناناريفو طائرة تُقل على متنها 86 من عاملات المنازل يقلن إنهن تعرضن لسوء المعاملة في لبنان.

واستأجرت حكومة مدغشقر الطائرة التي أقلتهن بعد وفاة سبع عشرة عاملة منزل السنة الماضية، حسبما أوردت وكالة فرانس برس.

وقالت ليوني البالغة من العمر 25 سنة: "لقد تعود رب المنزل على ضربي، كما حرمني من راتبي. أنا جد مسرورة لعودتي إلى وطني".

ويعمل في لبنان ما يناهز 7 آلاف مواطن من مدغشقر، حسبما ذُكر.

وقال رئيس وزراء البلاد كامي فيتال: "هناك الكثير من الوفيات".

وقالت وزارة السكان إنها تلقت 600 طلبا من عاملات المنازل بلبنان لإعادتهن إلى موطنهن بعد أن هربن من مشغليهن، حسب نفس الوكالة.

وكانت منظمة هيومن ووتش قد طلبت من الحكومة اللبنانية عام 2009 فتح تحقيق في وفاة عدد من عاملات المنازل الأجنبيات.

وقالت هذه المنظمة في السنة الماضية إن كل أسبوع يشهد موت خادمة أجنبية في لبنان.

Malagasy maids mistreated in Lebanon

http://www.news24.com/  -- 2011-02-08

Antananarivo - Young Malagasy women, facing poverty at home, continue to flock to Lebanon to work as maids, despite large scale exploitation and mistreatment there.

Saya died there in June 2009. A photo taken before she set off shows a serious fresh-faced high-school leaver of 19. A second photo, shows the same face swollen, bruised and burned beyond recognition.

"They say it was suicide, that she fell from the sixth floor of the building. We don't believe that story," said Elsa, Saya's aunt, holding a photo in each hand.

In the past year the bodies of 17 Malagasy women have been repatriated from Lebanon, according to an NGO that looks after the victims and their families.

They had all signed three-year contracts to work as

Aimee, Malagasy Community Leader in Lebanon, Reflecting on 2010

Aimee starred in Sri Lankiete Libanieh.

Malagasy migrant workers celebrating Christmas (French)

Two great podcasts with inside stories on two domestic workers in Lebanon

The Story of Sidoni

Powered by the Anti-Racism Movement

 The Story of Niri

Powered by the Anti-Racism Movement

ARM Video: Stories of Migrant Domestic Workers in Lebanon

Originally published here by the Anti-Racism Movement.

Malagasy migrant worker falls from fifth floor and dies

Al-Akhbar newspaper reported today the death of Malagasy migrant worker, Doris Jajitia (25 years old), last Thursday, after falling from the fifth floor balcony of her employer in Mtayleb (North of Beirut). Reports have concluded that it's a suicide, in less than 24 hours, according to Al-Akhbar.

وفاة عاملة أجنبية

توفيت يوم الخميس الماضي العاملة المدغشقرية دوريس ناجيتيا (25 عاماً)، بعد سقوطها من شرفة مشغلتها في الطبقة الخامسة من مبنى في المطيلب. واللافت أن التقارير الأمنية تحدثت عن انتحار دوريس، وأنها رمت نفسها من الشرفة، بعد مرور أقل من 24 ساعة على الوفاة.

Full videos of Monday's Public Discussion on the Plight and Rights of Migrant Domestic Workers

The discussion was really intense, at some points, despite the relatively low turn out. It was held on Monday, May 10th, at 7 p.m. at Chords Restaurant (Hamra), as part by Nahwa El Muwatinia's Na-am Lil Hiwar (Yes for Dialog) project.

The legal framework and legal shortcomings were thoroughly exposed by Nadim Houry and Kathleen Hamil. Nadim is senior Human Rights Watch researcher for Lebanon and Syria.

Aimée from Madagscared shared with us her personal experience of coming to Lebanon as a migrant domestic worker, her first employment and employer, and her current role as a community leader and her support for Malagasy and other nationalities working as maids in Lebanese homes.

Ali El Amin, former head of the syndicate of housekeepers recruitment agencies, arrived in the middle of the discussion and had a valuable input, talking about the syndicate's attempts to raise the level of awareness of recruitment agencies, and of blacklisting some of the 500+ recruitment agencies in Lebanon.

The attendees also had valuable input as noted in this Daily Star article.

The full videos:

video 1 duration 45:03



video 2 duration 18:16



video 3 duration 32:22

NGO organizes public discussion about plight of domestic workers

Wednesday, May 12, 2010, by The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Awareness about the plight of migrant domestic workers has grown but activists are still having trouble arousing the interest of the general public on the issue.

Hoping to attract wider involvement, non-governmental organization Nahwa al-Muwatiniya on Monday held a public discussion on the rights of migrants.

The “syndicate of bringing in maids”, the consul of Madagascar and "unfortunate excesses"

A meeting was held between the “syndicate of bringing in maids” in Lebanon and the consul of Madagascar, to discuss the way to cooperate, following the decision of the Government of Madagascar to ban sending Malagasy women maids to Lebanon as it would – according to the article published on the National News Agency website – have negative repercussions on the sector and on a large number of Lebanese families. An accord was reached, always according to the same article, for cooperation between the syndicate and the consul to control the unfortunate excesses that took place recently.

Ethiopian Suicides comments: I wonder if they meant suicide, torture, deprivation of salary and of freedom of movement, by "unfortunate excesses". The syndicate of importing maids is clearly fearing to loose money after several countries banned their women nationals to come to Lebanon.

“نقابة اصحاب مكاتب استقدام الخادمات بحثت مع قنصل مدغشقر سبل التعاون,” National News Agency, December 8, 2009, http://www.nna-leb.gov.lb/phpfolder/loadpage.php?page=JOU47.html

عقدت نقابة اصحاب مكاتب استقدام الخادمات في لبنان، اجتماعا مع قنصل دولة مدغشقر في لبنان، وتم البحث في موضوع قرار سلطات مدغشقر بمنع وحظر ارسال عاملات منازل الى لبنان وارتداداته السلبية على القطاع، وعلى قسم كبير من العائلات اللبنانية، وتم الاتفاق بموجبه على تفعيل التعاون بين النقابة ودولة مدغشقر ممثلة بالقنصلية العامة في لبنان لضبط التجاوزات المؤسفة التي حصلت في الآونة الاخيرة.

Why does the investigation of the "suicide" of migrant workers ends at "record speed", asks Al-Akhbar

Al-Akhbar newspaper published today a front page article on the suicide cases in the past 6 weeks. It raises questions as to the speed with which the Lebanese investigators conclude that the death was due to suicide of the migrant worker, even in cases when the body is bruised for reasons other than the act of suicide.

In the article, Nadim Houry, senior Human Rights Watch researcher for Lebanon and Syria, said that one mistreated Nepalese maid, who survived a suicide attempt, had looked through the window to the snow on the Lebanese mountains and thought that if she jumped, she would arrive fast to these mountains... in Nepal!

The article suggests solutions to preventing mistreatment of migrant domestic workers. Applying the law which limits the work of MDW to 10 hours per day requires strict monitoring by specialized investigators. Also, the sponsorship system is detrimental to the rights of the migrant worker because if the latter leaves the house of her employer (to report abuse and file a law suite against her employer for example), that worker will loose her residency permit! Escaping the house will make her loose her rights! The sponsorship system has to be modified, or abolished.

Full article in Arabic on this link: http://www.al-akhbar.com/ar/node/166852/print

Article: MDWs Dying on the Job in Lebanon

Dalila Mahdawi published yesterday an article on IPS News on Migrant Women Dying on the Job in Lebanon. The following is an excerpt.

BEIRUT, Nov 21 (IPS) - October and November have been bloody months for Lebanon's migrant domestic workers - over the last five weeks nine women have died. Most deaths have been reported as suicide.

The body of 20-year old Anget R. of Madagascar was found hanging from a rope at her employer's bedroom door Nov. 11. A newspaper in Madagascar reported the deaths of two other Malagasy women in October. One, identified only as Mampionona, was said to have fallen from the balcony of her employer's house. The other, identified as Vololona, died after reportedly jumping from the balcony.

Sunit Bholan of Nepal, who was 22, allegedly committed suicide Oct. 8. Ethiopian Kassaye Etsegenet, 23, died after reportedly jumping from the seventh floor of her employer's house Oct. 15. She left behind a suicide note citing personal reasons.

On Oct. 21, 26-year-old Zeditu Kebede Matente of Ethiopia was found dead, hanging from an olive tree. Two days later 30-year old Saneet Mariam also of Ethiopia died after allegedly falling from the balcony of her employer's house.

The list goes on: Nepalese national Mina Rokaya, 24, and then Tezeta Yalmoya of Ethiopia, 26 – who also died, it was said, when she fell from the balcony.

Full article on: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49362