Kafa and MWDW tear apart the “Kafala” system

In collaboration with Kafa Enough Violence and Exploitation organization, the National Trade Union of Workers and Employees in Lebanon held yesterday a joint workshop with the Trade Union of Migrant Women Domestic Workers (MWDW) for legal awareness on the rights of MWDWs in Lebanon. Participants included, besides Lebanese workers, some 35 workers from different nationalities, mainly, Madagascar, Senegal, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Togo. Kafa lawyer, Mohana Isaac, outlined the problems associated with so-called sponsorship or ‘kafala’ system, notably, the obstruction of the basic rights of MWDWs, including their right to change their present employer or adjust their legal status through the courts. The workshop also raised the prospects of legal appeal to civil courts by the MWDWs to claim their economic rights or receive appropriate compensation in case of physical abuse while observing the deadlines set for trials, the jurisdiction of courts and the tools or means of evidence. The workers, also focused mainly on the difficulties they face in adjusting their legal status in case of violation of their residency requisites or accusing them of a felony. (Al Mustaqbal, October 11, 2016)