Trapped in Lebanon, African fear for their lives amid racist uptick

In Lebanon, everyone appears to be scrambling for safety as best they can. But many of those left behind are migrant domestic workers, especially from Africa.

Migrant workers of African origin say they have found it difficult to access emergency shelters after their Lebanese employers abandoned them in the middle of a worsening conflict zone.

“These people do not care about us. To them we are like working machines. My friends were denied entry at shelters. There were thrown out because they are not Lebanese,” says Regina Blessing Kyalo, a Kenyan domestic worker who came to Lebanon in 2023.

“We are stuck. There is no way out,” she told DW.

Mariatu Tholley, a Sierra Leonean migrant living in Beirut, meanwhile told DW that she has been having sleepless nights: “They are bombing everywhere at night. This country is not safe for us for now,” she said, adding that she had nowhere to go.

Lebanese authorities meanwhile have faced repeated accusations in recent days or prioritizing their own citizens, and are accused of discriminating against foreigners.

Growing despair amid limited options

UN officials say thay most shelters in Lebanon for displaced people are now full, pushing people to sleep out in the streets or in public parks to avoid shelling and rocket attacks.

“Most of the nearly 900 government established collective shelters in Lebanon have no more capacity,” Rula Amin from the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) explained during a press briefing in Geneva.

Mathieu Luciano, head of the International Organization For Migration (IOM) in Lebanon, has also expressed his concern for thousands of domestic workers, often female migrants, whom he said we’re simply “abandoned” by their employers.

“They face very limited shelter options,” he said.

The situation is indeed extremely serious for migrant women in particular, as many work as freelance domestic workers who are usually paid by the hour, says Dara Foi’Elle from the Migrant Workers’ Action.

She told DW that many usually work as live-in maids in the middle-class areas of Southern Lebanon – the same region, which Israel has been shelling in search of Hezbollah operatives during the past few weeks.

“There is need for organized sheltering for migrants, which should be organized by international organizations,” she said while also stating that the Lebanese government has a policy “to prioritize its citizens at public shelters.”

Those who can’t make it to shelters find sleeping on the streets of Beirut safer – but some can’t even manage to get there
© Houssam Shbaro/Anadolu/picture alliance

‘Mission impossible:’ Lack of travel documents

The Lebanese government estimates that over 1.2 million Lebanese nationals have been displaced in the current escalation. There are, however, no reliable figures on how many foreigners might be affected by the ongoing crisis – and how.

There are over 175,000 migrants from 98 countries resideling in Lebanon, according to estimates by the IOM. Those numbers, however, only reflect the state of affairs prior to the current conflict situation.

To make matters worse, many migrant workers also find themselves in an unfortunate situation whereby they cannot evacuate for lack of travel documents – these are usually kept in the custody of their employers.

“Our bosses are holding on to our passports and travel documents. They are running away with our documents,” said Kyalo, describing any attempt to get back home as “mission impossible.”

The so-called Kafala system allows the confiscation of travel documents by employers and agencies in Lebanon to ensure that workers cannot abscond. However, this has considerably complicated not only the evacuation of migrant workers, but access to nearly all public services that might be of need at a time of crisis.

“A lot of migrant workers are unable to access health care and services offered by the government without documentation. This is a gross human rights violation now worsened by the security situation in the country,” Foi’Elle told DW.

Some migrants are even alleged to have been left behind, locked up in the homes where they work – unable to leave high-rise buildings in areas where the Israel Defense Force (IDF) has been carrying out strategic bombardments against Hezbollah positions.

Evacution plans with nowhere to go

Some foreign governments have now started organizing evacuation plans for their citizens but the overall process appears to be slow, given the urgency of the matter.

Bangladesh, Kenya, and the Philippines have all asked their citizens in Lebanon to register for evacuation.

Meanwhile, many African and Asian migrant workers don’t even have a proper embassy they can turn to for more information, or to try to get emergency travel papers to leave the country:

“The lack of diplomatic missions in the country is worsening the situation. Most countries do not have embassies in the country but only honorary consulates,” Foi’Elle told DW.

The curious case of Kenyan evacuation registrations

The Kenyan government meanwhile says that its nationals in Lebanon have been slow to register for evacuation despite being ordered to do so.

The Kenyan Department of Diaspora Affairs said on October 2 it had barely received evacuation applications – even though some Kenyans had turned to them earlier, appealing for help. Then in recent days, around 3,500 Kenyans in total were reported to have registered for evacuation – only about one eighth of all Kenyans believed to be in the country.

Roselyn Njogu, the Principal Secretary for Diaspora Affairs, told local media that so far they have managed to evacuate less than 100 individuals in two batches so far due to an apparent lack of demand.

This, however, is in stark contrast to statements made by some Kenyan nationals, who claimed that they had registered for the case of evacuation in July already but are yet to see any action being taken by their government to protect them.

The Chinese government has been quick to evacuate its nationals from Lebanon via Cyprus – while African governments are facing criticism for not doing enough
© Li Jing/Xinhua/IMAGO

Kyalo is one of those Kenyans, who are waiting to see their government spring into action: she says that despite registering long before the recent escalation of the war, she is yet to receive any response on evacuation plans.

“I registered five months ago. I was among the first people to register. There is nothing that is being done. There are just talking,” she said.

Njogu meanwhile explained that her office “will rescue as many Kenyans as need be -even if it means 26,000 of them,” citing the estimated numbers published by the Department of Diaspora Affairs about the number of Kenyans are living and working in Lebanon.

However, the Kenyan government has also stated that it intends to close the registration for evacuation by October 12 – a deadline of merely a few days.

As the IDF continues to shell positions in Lebanon and with no ceasefire in sight, chances of actually conducting evacuation journeys may soon become impossible.

Edited by Sertan Sanderson

Author: Privilege Musvanhiri