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Brief summary on the situation of Migrant Women Workers in Lebanon This section will rely primarily on the study by Michael Young to
be published towards the end of this year, by the Lebanese NGO Forum and
entitled "Migrant Workers in Lebanon". The information here will be
brief, as the subject of migration will be addressed in a more detailed and
comprehensive framework in the study. I - Background The arrival of migrant laborers in Lebanon reflects not only
domestic needs in the countries of origin but also regional labor mobility.
Specific regional events —the drop of oil prices, the Gulf war and the
collapse of the Soviet Union— have led to changes in migration trends and
resulted in the "expansion of replacement migration" and the "feminization"
of migration. Both trends have been evident in Lebanon. For several years women
from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union have been working in bars, as
dancers, waitresses, and prostitutes. However, it is the presence of a
growing number of Asian women, mostly
from non-Arab Asian countries, that has been particularly evident. A majority
of non-Arab migrant laborers are women, a trend that is bound to increase as
the Lebanese authority imposes further restrictions on the arrival of
non-Arab Afro-Asian males. "Replacement migration" is a relatively recent
phenomenon but it has reached large proportions, given —in the case of women
migrants— the increasing hiring of Afro-Asian women workers as low-priced
domestics, roles previously played by Syrian and Egyptian women. Who are they? Prior to 1973, most female workers were Egyptians and Syrians,
and worked in households. As of 1973, Filipinos started to arrive to Lebanon,
followed by Sri Lankans in 1975. In 1990 woman from African countries, mainly
Ethiopia and Madagascar, arrived. Today, the largest contingents of non-Arab Afro-Asian women
migrants in Lebanon are mainly from Sri Lanka, the Philippines, India,
Madagascar, Ethiopia, and West African countries. They provide domestic
services, usually in households, but also in restaurants and other
businesses. A majority of domestic workers are women. How many are they? The actual number of women migrants is difficult to determine for
several reasons, ranging from a lack of reliable figures, to the
contradiction in numbers that differ from one source to another, to the
illegal presence of foreign female workers. It is roughly estimated that 85%
of the total number of non-Arab African Asian migrant workers in Lebanon —out
of an estimated 200,000-230,000
workers— are female. II - Working Conditions Conditions of workers vary depending on category of employment.
Migrant workers are not governed by Lebanese labor law. Their status is
governed by a contract between the worker and the employer. The fact that migrant workers are not governed by labor law means
that they are denied a right to earn Lebanon's minimal salary, they do not
have a maximal number of working hours, they have no guaranteed time off or
vacation, they are denied accident and end-of-work compensation, and they are
barred from joining labor unions. Women migrant often face difficult conditions, including:
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