Lebanon

Migration and displacement

What we found

Labour and migrant workers
In 2020, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimated that the number of migrant workers in Lebanon exceeded 400,000. These workers come from countries like Bangladesh, Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka and work in Lebanon to support their families through remittances. In relation to undocumented migrants, recent estimates calculated that Syrian refugees in Lebanon, at approximately 1.5 million, are more than one-quarter of the Lebanese population.

The research team interviewed 21 migrant women and three third sector practitioners in the greater Beirut area in Lebanon employed in a service active in the field of migration and gender. Twelve of the migrant women were migrant domestic workers, five were Syrian skilled professionals, and four were undocumented Syrians engaged, in sex work to varying degrees or unemployed. The interviews explored participants’ economic and socio-cultural drivers of migration, their living and working conditions and their experiences of the multiple crises Lebanon is facing.

Agency and independence
The migrant women we spoke to exhibited high levels of agency in their decision to migrate. Leaving behind unbearable conditions of discriminatory gender norms and/or familial and social gender-based violence, poverty and/or conflict-related hardships, was perceived as emancipatory and empowering. For domestic workers the choice of Lebanon as a destination was, to a great extent, pre-determined by the market of the recruitment agencies under the kafala system.  Financial independence and being able to help their families were a source of pride. The five Syrian professional migrants were integrated into Lebanese society, but as second-tier citizens, suffering from structural discrimination. They were also the ones affected the most by the Lebanese triple crisis (economic collapse, COVID-19 and the August 2020 port blast).

The domestic workers perceived their experience in Lebanon as temporary, as is typical of circular migration. They did not seem to be on any pathways to integration in Lebanon. Many declared that they did not go to public spaces, had no social life and attended no social events. They spent their little free time on their phone, watching the television and talking to their family back home. The use of technology was a virtual place of freedom and empowerment.

For the sex workers (which included two refugee transwomen), being able to make, save and send money to their family gave them a sense of empowerment. Hope that they could change their condition coexisted with an attitude of acceptance, resignation and a self-denigratory attitude. These women did not find civil society groups supportive or understanding of their situation.

Challenges
In Lebanon there is a lack of legal and societal preparedness to respect and protect the rights of female migrant workers and refugees and to cater for their needs. Women migrant workers do not enjoy standard labour conditions, and suffer from social and institutional discriminations. National and international tools to protect female migrant workers are still insufficient.