African domestic workers dumped on the streets of Lebanon

[Prime Minister]

Lebanon in economic ‘death spiral’ as domestic workers are dumped on the streets

As the country plunges towards hyperinflation, experts tell Bel Trew that three-quarters of the country will soon rely on food handouts to survive

www.independent.co.uk

Bewildered and scared, Ife, an Ethiopian domestic worker, explains how a few hours ago she thought she was on her way to Beirut airport. “So you can fly home,” her cash-strapped employer had said while pushing her out of the car in front of the Ethiopian embassy.

“It was a lie,” whispers the 24-year-old, clutching her belongings like a lifebuoy.

“I cried and cried because I haven’t been paid since January. I have no money. I have a son.”

Ife only has one option: sleep rough alongside a dozen other Ethiopian women also dumped by their employers in front of the consulate in Beirut, and beg to be repatriated home. They are among a growing number of migrant workers in Lebanon that have been abandoned by their bosses who, amid an unprecedented economic collapse, cannot afford to pay their salaries.

Several women from Ghana messaged The Independent to say their employers had not paid their salaries, had banned them from leaving the house and were rationing their food.

Vida, 27, says she is only fed once a day.

“I’m dizzy. I don’t have the strength to stand, I keep falling down,” she whispers in a WhatsApp voice message, where she describes the sexual assault she suffers at the hands of her male employer.

“They owe me nearly $1,000 but will only give me my passport if I drop my demand to be paid.”

Alberta, also from Ghana, says her 26-year-old cousin Ruby, a domestic worker, passed away three months ago in Lebanon from hunger and neglect.

“She made one phone call in December and she said she was hungry and sick. She called on 15 April the day before she died and said the same thing,” Alberta adds.

Hawa, who is just 17 and so the youngest of the party, says she escaped her employment by climbing out the window. Sitting on a scrap of cardboard, she explains how as the finances of the family worsened the violence shown against her increased.

“My madam would hold me down as her son beat me,” she says, showing a scar snarled across her stomach.

“She still has my