Thread by @monaeltahawy

I am honoured to join my sisters and comrades in @egnalegna in their call to #AbolishKafala. Egna Legna is a collective of Ethiopian domestic workers based in #Lebanon who advocate for the rights and dignity of other domestic workers. I send them my love and solidarity.

https://twitter.com/egnalegnadwu/status/1336811324429520903

The Kafala system entraps migrant workers in Lebanon and the Gulf in contracts that bind them to their employers and creates conditions of enslavement which leave them susceptible to violence and abuse. #AbolishKafala

There are at least 250,000 migrant workers, mostly women from Africa and Asia, who work in Lebanon as housekeepers, carers or nannies. The economic crisis, #COVID19 pandemic, and the Beirut Port explosion have all compounded the already hellish conditions for them.

Many women were dumped at their embassy door by their employers, left to sleep on the sidewalk and seek help from activists to get tickets to fly home. #AbolishKafala #16DaysOfActivism