Domestic Violence, Migrant Workers and the Covid Crisis in Lebanon
Body-Parts of Bangladeshi Woman Found in Central Beirut as Cases of Domestic Violence Soar
A Bangladeshi migrant worker watches over a Beruit storefront in Lebanon. Photo: Oliver Marsden.
As the sun rose on Saturday 12th April and the Beirut streets began to fill with people, a gruesome discovery was made outside a bank. The dismembered and decomposing remains of a Bangladeshi woman had been haphazardly shoved into a black duffle bag and dumped onto the streets of Beirut.
Violent crimes of this nature are rare in Lebanon and shocking images of the bag were quickly shared on social media and broadcast on local TV and radio. The Internal Security Forces (“ISF”) cordoned off the area and searched for more remains.
Two days later the ISF arrested the woman’s husband, tweeting [in Arabic] and posting on Facebook that they had arrested the “killer,” not the suspect.
“Both the victim and the murderer are of Bangladeshi nationality”, the ISF said, adding that it was continuing its investigation under the supervision of the competent judiciary. It is not known whether the suspect has confessed or given any kind of statement to the police.
Sumi*, a Bangladeshi migrant worker from Mount Lebanon was devastated to hear the news but is sceptical. She was sceptical that the person responsible for the murder was the victim’s husband.
“No way such a thing happened. Marital conflict in the community would not lead to this sort of violence,” she told LevantX.
Sumi believes the woman may have been involved in prostitution as a means of making a living during a desperate time in Lebanon. She thinks it may have been a rape that turned into a struggle and ultimately a gruesome murder.
“Because of what is happening in Lebanon it is not far from reality.”
Sabra and Shatila camp in Beruit, where many Bangladeshi migrant workers live. Photo: Wojtek Arciszewski / Al Jazeera
Abdallah Mohammed Ibsaat owns a building in the Sabra and Shatila camp in Beirut . He told LevantX that the ISF were searching the area for two days before arresting the suspect in his apartment.
Abdallah confirmed that the pair knew each other and that the suspect had been living there for a short time, but did not know if they were married.
The first secretary of the Embassy of Bangladesh in Lebanon, Abdallah Mamum, told LevantX that he was unable to comment on the case as investigations were still ongoing. He added that there is no extradition treaty between Lebanon and Bangladesh.
“The suspect will be sentenced, judged according to Lebanese law and spend their jail time in Lebanon.”
Despite the ISF using inflammatory words such as “killer” and “murderer” instead of “suspect” in their posts and press releases, and announcing that the alleged suspect was the woman’s husband within the first 24 hours, their names have not been released to the public.
Neither have the bodies been released to the coroner who deals with the repatriation of bodies back to Bangladesh.
If the names are released it would be easy to trace the victim back to her “Kafeel” or employer. The absence of this information, weeks after the incident took place, is an interesting decision from the security services in Lebanon who seem confident of their investigation so far.
Early reports had suggested that the victim was a domestic worker from Ethiopia, the only evidence for this being the dark skin tone of the victim and the fact that Ethiopians make up the largest proportion of migrant domestic workers in Lebanon. The assumption reflected the deep issues of systemic racism currently present in Lebanon, something that migrant workers have long experienced.
Violence Against Migrant Workers
Extreme violence against migrant workers is nothing new to Lebanon. The country’s Kafala (“Sponsorship” in English) system curtails the basic rights of all migrant workers and offers them no protection.
“Most of the time, murders of migrant domestic workers are covered up by employers and authorities in Lebanon by claiming that they were suicides to stop the investigation.”
They are excluded from the country’s labour laws and are instead tied to their employer, who sponsors their work visa in Lebanon. This often leads to systematic human rights abuses. Their passports can be taken away from them, they cannot quit, pay is often withheld, and there have been reports of sexual, physical and mental abuse.
A recent Amnesty International article claimed that the perpetrators of these crimes often go unpunished in the absence of any enforcement mechanisms. Then-Minister of Labor, Lamia Yammine, had committed to reforming the system but has since left office without implementing changes.
Former Lebanese Minister of Labour Lamia Yammine. Photo: Lebanese Government website.
These claims have been echoed by other organisations. Farah Baba, Advocacy and Communications Director of the NGO Anti-Racism Movement, told LevantX that these violent crimes often fail to be investigated.
“A lot of the time employers push their workers off a balcony and there is no investigation despite security forces saying they will open one.”
In a recent interview with Newsweek, Baba expanded on this theme. "Most of the time, murders of migrant domestic workers are covered up by employers and authorities in Lebanon by claiming that they were suicides to stop the investigation.”
"[Employers] usually throw them out of balconies, they hang them, they shoot them or beat them to death," she added.
According to ARM there have been at least 14 murders of domestic workers in Lebanon since April 2020, with 11 of the victims being Ethiopian women. However, Baba believes this number to be higher due to a combination of scarce news reports, a lack of court convictions, the sheer number of migrant workers in Lebanon, and the near total impunity of the employers.
Not only do the employers benefit from the exploitation of foreign domestic workers due to the flawed Kafala system, but so do the recruitment agencies that help traffic the workers into Lebanon and some government institutions themselves.
A special report published in November last year by the think-tank Triangle titled ‘Cleaning up: The Shady Industries That Exploit Lebanon’s Kafala Workers’ alleged that the second largest beneficiary of this exploitative system are government institutions. Migrant workers generate an annual revenue of $36.5 million for the General Security Directorate and $6.1 million for the Ministry of Labour in residency and labour permits.
The Shadow Pandemic and the Economic Crisis
However, if the statement from the ISF is to be believed and the alleged perpetrator is in fact the victim’s husband, it begs the question: what led the husband to commit such a violent act?
“We Bangladeshis can’t work back home and can’t work here. I don’t know where else to go.”
The number of people from Bangladesh currently living in Lebanon is believed to be around 150,000, mostly men who work in construction. Many of these men and women are undocumented according to Baba and have been hit hard by the country’s economic collapse. With no money to finish the countless half-built buildings in Lebanon, there is no work for the migrant construction workers and no social security protection. These workers struggle to find representation or aid from their own governments in Lebanon. Baba told LevantX that the Embassy of Bangladesh had been particularly unhelpful towards its citizens, and had even been aggressive when dealing with ARM.
This statement was echoed by Sumi when asked if the Bangladeshi community had received any help from their Embassy.
“No, not at all. Especially with Corona. No help from the government or NGOs or anyone” She said with sad resignation in her voice.
“Bangladeshi’s are refused help from most NGOs” she added.
Three Bangladeshi migrant workers, one woman and two men, sit at a shop in Beruit, Lebanon. Photo: Oliver Marsden.
Like many of the migrant communities in Lebanon, the economic collapse has hit the Bangladeshi community hard. This trickle-down effect has seen many men and women witness the value of their savings plummet as the economy fails and inflation rises, making it almost impossible to send money back to their families in Bangladesh. Not only are they struggling to provide for their loved ones back home, now they cannot even look after themselves in Lebanon. This has added untold stress onto a community that is already marginalised and subjected to abuse.
“If we work daily we can only sustain ourselves. We can’t send money back home. It’s hard when we know people are expecting money back home,” Sumi said.
““People are stuck in Limbo, they are stuck on the streets.””
According to the Asia Development Bank, the percentage of the population in Bangladesh living below the national poverty line dropped from 24.3% in 2016 to 21.8% in 2018. The World Bank believes that Bangladesh has made remarkable achievements to date in reducing poverty.
The reality feels very different for Sumi. She believes Bangladeshis are trapped between a rock and a hard place with no chance of escape.
“We Bangladeshis can’t work back home and can’t work here. I don’t know where else to go.”
However when asked if she wants to go home she said no. At least in Lebanon she can find a job even if it’s low paid, she told LevantX.
“In Bangladesh there is no food, no jobs and no way to provide a living.”
Despite wanting to stay in Lebanon herself, Sumi’s advice for other migrant domestic workers wanting to travel to Lebanon is clear.
“At home, even if you don’t have food, you have your families. You have their support. Here, it’s dangerous.”
UN Shadow Pandemic campaign logo. Photo: UN Women.
The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, of which Lebanon’s was one of the strictest in the world, has caused cases of domestic violence to soar globally. Families locked down together for weeks on end, with little-to-no-way of providing for one another, has caused a 20% increase in domestic violence globally according to the UN. The organisation UN Women has referred to this escalated violence as a “shadow pandemic”, launching a campaign spearheaded by Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and actress Kate Winslet, highlighting the increased violence against migrant workers amongst others.
According to a report by the Thomson Reuters Foundation in February, domestic violence reports doubled last year, with 1,468 cases received in the last 12 months, up from 747 during the previous year. However, with so many undocumented migrants within the Bangladeshi community and many of its residents not obtaining legal papers, countless numbers are afraid to go to the police in fear of being picked up and detained as illegal immigrants. There are few places migrants can turn to for help as victims of domestic violence.
In a country that is slipping further towards economic collapse and still reeling from the Port Lebanon explosion, these figures provide for worrying reading. Cases of murder and domestic and gender-based violence can only be expected to rise. With a lack of trust in a legal system that seems to cover up the plight of migrant workers, it is hard to know if justice will be served, and with a political system that seems to stagnate, it is difficult to see if this will change.
Abdallah summed up his thoughts on the case after taking a sigh and pausing.
“The suspect in this case is Lebanon. I blame this death on the collapse of the country.”
* Some of the names have been changed for safety reasons.
