Challenging the Kafala System: Ethiopian domestic workers tell their stories on TikTok

Lebanese TikTok user Jessie Abi Habib recently attracted attention online after accusing her Ethiopian domestic worker, Mary Bendu, of multiple crimes, including stealing her things and running away. She also threatened to punish Bendu if she finds her. Jessie used racist language to describe domestic workers, targeting Ethiopians in particular, and sparked outrage within Lebanon’s Ethiopian community and across the globe.

The responses to Habib’s accusations quickly turned into a campaign of solidarity and support among Ethiopian domestic workers. Their community has taken to TikTok to actively engage with this cause.

A campaign for Ethiopian domestic workers on TikTok

Another Ethiopian worker, Sara Tedele, launched a spontaneous initiative on TikTok, compelling Habibto apologize during a live broadcast for insulting Ethiopian domestic workers employed in Lebanon. The group consists of approximately 200,000 to 300,000 women, according to recruitment agencies. However, no accurate official statistics are available.

However, Habib’s apology—a video in which she clarified that Mary was actually from Sierra Leone and vowed to no longer speak about the issue—did not stick. She soon resumed her attacks on the Ethiopian community, labeling them as rude, stupid, and prone to theft, adding that she "lowered her status when she took the time to speak to the community.” She claimed she was doing her housekeeper a favor by allowing her leisure time and offering accommodation, while boasting about taking her to a restaurant on New Year's Eve instead of "leaving her to wait at home.”

A Lebanese influencer's TikTok posts accusing her Ethiopian domestic worker of theft and other charges, and her racist descriptions of domestic workers, particularly Ethiopians, ignited anger within the Ethiopian community in Lebanon and across the globe. The backlash quickly evolved into an online solidarity campaign.

According to the Ministry of Labor, the number of domestic workers in Lebanon increased to around 73,000 in 2023 from about 64,000 the previous year. However, this figure is still one-third of the total number of workers from 2019. In 2018 before the currency crisis, the number of foreign domestic workers in Lebanon exceeded 217,000.

Those participating in the TikTok campaign brought their struggles to the forefront, addressing their peers in Arabic and local Ethiopian languages. Domestic workers are reclaiming the narrative as human rights organizations fail to protect their rights and end the Kafala sponsorship system’s continued control over them.

Modern slavery under the Kafala system

Thousands of female migrant workers in Lebanon continue to suffer from various forms of gender and class discrimination, enduring the worst kinds of exploitation under the Kafala system. The Kafala system grants employers excessive power while depriving workers of their most basic rights. Specifically, Article 7 of the Labor Law excludes them from protection by depriving them of the right to a minimum wage, maximum working hours, weekly rest days, overtime pay, and the right to keep their personal documents such as passports in their possession.

In addition to these violations, domestic workers are deprived of the right to rest, mobility, communication, and personal freedoms, and to form associations. The law also fails to protect them from any abuse they may face from employers or recruitment agencies, including psychological and physical abuse.

Ghina al-Andary from the Anti-Trafficking and Exploitation Unit of KAFA (enough) Violence & Exploitation states female migrant workers face both physical and psychological violence. This, along with numerous violations related to wages, working hours, and more under the Kafala system-, leads her to describe the system as a modern form of slavery.

Thousands of migrant women workers in Lebanon continue to suffer from various forms of gender and class discrimination, enduring the worst kinds of exploitation under the "Kafala system." This system grants employers excessive power while depriving workers of their most basic rights.

Speaking to Raseef22, al-Andary emphasizes the need to "dismantle this illegal sponsorship system, as it is not a written law but rather a number of procedures with the Lebanese General Security that link the domestic worker's residency to the employer. Thus, if the worker leaves their job, they lose their legal residency status. With the ongoing lack of monitoring and the workers' ability to file complaints, their work becomes forced labor."

Al-andary highlights that the system does not offer a solution to this exploitation , except through an employer's "waiver" of the worker—a term that clearly reflects an ownership mindset. Without this waiver, workers face deportation or further exploitation. This includes sexual and physical abuse or minimal wages with a family that takes advantage of a lack of documentation, leading to more sexual and physical abuse.

Defending the Kafala system

The issue becomes complicated when some employers and homeowners defend their right to subject workers to the Kafala system and insist on its presence, citing the high costs of recruitment, visas, and residency in addition to monthly salaries.

However, the real problem lies in the mechanisms that protect employers at the expense of enslaving workers. Sara Tedele, through videos on her TikTok account, highlights that some employers do not allow their workers to use their phones except for an hour or two a day, force them to work while ill, and require them to clean the homes of their relatives or friends. She emphasizes that these practices are clear violations of workers' rights.

Ethiopian workers in Lebanon: Psychological and economic suffering

Less than two weeks ago, Lebanon was shaken by a crime committed by a domestic worker in Ajaltoun. According to preliminary investigations, she killed her 41-year-old employer, Jocelyn, after she was caught attempting to open her safe. It is believed that the worker aimed to retrieve her confiscated passport, leading to her imprisonment.

Psychologist Mohamed Fadlallah points out that treating workers humanely positively impacts their psychological resilience and reactions to the families they work for. He stresses the importance of ensuring workers' rights when fostering a relationship of mutual respect between workers and their employers, as well as providing a supportive psychological environment. Otherwise, workers might experience severe psychological distress, potentially leading to aggression, murder, suicide, or flight from their employer’s house.

The economic collapse in Lebanon has further exacerbated the plight of migrant workers. Some employers have resorted to kicking their workers out, sending them back to their embassies, depriving them of their dues, or paying them in devalued Lebanese pounds.

Sara, through videos on her TikTok account, highlights that some employers do not allow their workers to use their phones except for an hour or two a day, force them to work while ill, and require them to clean the homes of their relatives or friends.

Amid these circumstances, Ethiopian domestic worker Mimi Maki addressed some Lebanese commenters on TikTok with irony, comparing the plight of her fellow workers that migrated from a low-income country to the financial struggles of Lebanese people who, following the currency crisis, are now compelled to migrate to other countries.

Al-Andary states, "The collapse of the currency has had a significant impact on foreign workers, especially since some were left to their embassies after being thrown out, or were abandoned. Many employers used the economic crisis as an excuse to deny them their rights, even though some owed them wages for five or ten years. Then the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the catastrophe for workers."

She adds that in 2021, KAFA worked on amending the reporting mechanism used by employers. Previously, employers needed to file a judicial report to lodge a complaint with the police. Since the police could only act in cases of a "crime," employers often accused workers of theft when reporting their flight, or "running away" from the household as is commonly expressed locally . She says, "This procedure has been abolished, lifting the responsibility of paying fees and airfare from the employer, who now only needs to fill out a form with the General Security to report that the worker has left."

The term "she ran away" is provocative when compared to a worker in any other sector simply deciding to leave their job. To contextualize this, we must look back to the 1980s when foreign domestic workers began arriving, and employment was no longer linked to the relevant ministry, but rather to the General Security. This entity linked workers to sponsors (kafeels), determining their residence and job assignments, creating what is now known as the Kafala system. This has given employers control over the workers' lives, rights, and freedoms.

According to KAFA, the key solution lies in including domestic workers under Article 7 of the labor law, granting them all the rights afforded to other workers.

Despite Lebanon signing the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights in 1972, which ensures everyone's right to just and favorable work conditions, and ratifying ILO conventions on the protection of domestic workers in 1977, including the Forced Labor Convention and Convention 111 on Discrimination in Employment and Occupation, which prohibits gender-based discrimination in employment, no amendments have been made to the labor law regarding domestic workers.

Tragic incidents and racist practices

There have been many tragic incidents involving domestic workers in Lebanon. Perhaps one of the worst occurred in 2019 when an Ethiopian Airlines plane landed in Ethiopia to families eagerly awaiting the return of their daughters from Lebanon. However, these families were met with seven coffins containing the bodies of domestic workers who had died in the homes they had been working in—victims of torture, beatings, maltreatment, malnutrition, or suicide.

A month after this tragic incident, Lebanese comedian Nady Abou Chabke appeared on the TV show "Menna W Jerr" hosted by Pierre Rabbat. He dressed as an Ethiopian domestic worker "for laughs" and mimicked an Ethiopian accent, to the laughter of the audience around him.

Lest we forget the song "Haal Bent El-Srilankiye" ('That Sri Lankan girl'), which mocked dark-skinned women through its lyrics and music video?

When discussing racism, it’s important to note that e some Lebanese take pride in their prejudice, largely due to a lack of understanding of its implications. Lebanese MP Gebran Bassil exemplified this in 2017 when he tweeted on X (formerly Twitter), boasting about his "Lebanese racism." After being criticized by activists, he later explained that he meant "blood ties, civilization, and history." Some Lebanese, including journalist Bassam Abou Zeid, supported him by justifying his tweet.

Mary in prison

Updates on Mary's case, the E situation that sparked the TikTok campaign, have been revealed by her employer, who informed the public that Marywas arrested and is now in prison. Her crime nor the charges brought against her have been made clear. The real issue lies in how the Lebanese judiciary handles cases of those without support or financial resources for legal defense, compounded by racial prejudice that may lead to imprisonment in substandard conditions.

Lawyer Diala Shehadeh speaks of the difficulties foreign domestic workers face in court, "The main issue is their inability to secure a lawyer, file charges for the crimes they suffer, defend themselves against arbitrary accusations from employers, or even regularize their status with Lebanese General Security."

Shehadeh tells Raseef22 that workers often leave their jobs and homes due to violence or other reasons, making it difficult to renew their residencies without a new sponsor. Even if the previous sponsor falsely accuses them of crimes, they still face trial. She emphasizes the need for specialized institutions and recruitment agencies to find solutions to help these workers obtain legal residency.

Shehadeh adds, "There is a problem with providing legal aid to these female workers. Although institutions are trying to offer support, it remains very limited."

Workers often leave their jobs and homes due to violence or other reasons, making it difficult to renew their residencies without a new sponsor. Even if the previous sponsor falsely accuses them of crimes, they still face trial.

On TikTok, some Lebanese women have resorted to posting videos showing what they claim is "humane treatment" of their workers. However many view this as patronizing and exploitative, as some employers address their domestic workers as if they were children, while others ask them to dance or cook on live broadcasts, gaining followers and making a profit.

The campaign empowering Ethiopian domestic workers did not end with Mary's arrest. Her peers continue to post videos about their issues and rights with the utmost determination. This raises the question of whether TikTok could provide these workers with a platform to organize, address issues, and propose solutions, and potentially lead to more substantial forms of advocacy beyond social media.

According to KAFA, despite Ethiopian workers speaking out on TikTok about their struggles, the privileges of their employers overshadow their ability to voice their issues. When they complain, they face mistreatment, racism, and stereotyping, especially since the law requires workers to obtain permission from their employers to stay in Lebanon, even after documenting and reporting abuse.