Lebanon: Post Putting Up Domestic Worker 'for Sale' Causes Outrage

A domestic worker wearing a protective mask walks her employers’ dogs before the night-time curfew in Beirut, Lebanon. Hussein Malla/AP
A domestic worker wearing a protective mask walks her employers’ dogs before the night-time curfew in Beirut, Lebanon. Hussein Malla/AP
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Lebanon: Post Putting Up Domestic Worker 'for Sale' Causes Outrage

A domestic worker wearing a protective mask walks her employers’ dogs before the night-time curfew in Beirut, Lebanon. Hussein Malla/AP
A domestic worker wearing a protective mask walks her employers’ dogs before the night-time curfew in Beirut, Lebanon. Hussein Malla/AP

Human rights activists denounced on Saturday an advertisement posted online putting a Nigerian migrant domestic worker up for sale in Lebanon.

The post, advertised on a Facebook page named Buy and Sell in Lebanon, read, “Domestic worker of African citizenship (Nigerian) for sale with a new residency and full legal papers. She’s 30-year-old, active, and very clean.” It also listed the woman’s price as $1,000.

The Facebook post prompted the labor Ministry to issue a circular prohibiting such actions, which lies under the scope of human trafficking.

On Saturday, the General Security agency arrested the man who posted the advertisement, saying the publisher is subject to prosecution before the courts.

“The Justice Ministry already filed a complaint against the man who advertised the selling of the Nigerian domestic worker,” Labor Minister Lamia Yammine told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Mohanna Ishak, a lawyer with the Kafa NGO that assists domestic workers, said this form of advertisement shows that some people deal with those workers as private property, particularly due to the Kafala system, which ties the legal residency of the worker to the contractual relationship with the employer, not respecting the workers’ human rights.

“Therefore, some employers believe they have the right to sell their domestic workers for any reason,” Ishak told Asharq Al-Awsat.

However, the Facebook post reveals that a large number of Lebanese are incapable anymore of paying their domestic workers due to the economic crisis in the country, the sharp depreciation of the Lebanese pound on the unofficial market, and the high unemployment rate.

Before the government closed the airport as part of the measures taken to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, a large number of domestic workers were leaving the country after employers insisted on paying their salaries in the local currency.

“This is a newly reported case. It alarms of many problems. We receive on daily basis a large number of requests from residents unable to pay the salaries of their domestic workers,” the Labor Minister said.

Yammine uncovered that she is coordinating with both the Foreign and Public Works ministers to facilitate the departure of workers wishing to return home.

Two weeks ago, Amnesty International called on the Lebanese government to announce a set of immediate measures to protect migrant domestic workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ishak said that the current situation leads to several problems in the absence of radical solutions, particularly as domestic workers are trapped without salaries, protection, or guarantees.



Israel Drafts Plan to Annex West Bank Settlements

An Israeli settlement in the West Bank. (Reuters)
An Israeli settlement in the West Bank. (Reuters)
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Israel Drafts Plan to Annex West Bank Settlements

An Israeli settlement in the West Bank. (Reuters)
An Israeli settlement in the West Bank. (Reuters)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has backed calls from his ministers to impose Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank next year after US President Donald Trump takes office.

In recent private talks, Netanyahu said the issue of sovereignty in the West Bank should return to the agenda once Trump is in the White House, according to public broadcaster Kan.

This aligns Netanyahu with coalition members already pushing for such a move next year.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, head of the National Religious Party - Zionism Party and holds a position within Israel’s Defense Ministry where he oversees the administration of the occupied West Bank and its settlements, said Monday that a Trump win would create a “key opportunity” for Israel to impose sovereignty.

“We were close to applying sovereignty to settlements in Judea and Samaria during Trump’s last term, and now it’s time to make it happen,” he said.

“2025: the year of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” Smotrich wrote on X, using the biblical name by which Israel refers to the occupied West Bank.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also welcomed Donald Trump’s victory, saying, “This is the time for sovereignty.”

Trump’s win has encouraged Israeli right-wing leaders to push for annexing and expanding West Bank settlements.

The plan to extend sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and West Bank settlements dates back to 2020, when Netanyahu sought Trump’s approval to move forward.

Kan reported that annexation plans are ready to be implemented.

In 2020, as part of Trump’s “Deal of the Century,” Deputy Prime Minister Yariv Levin’s team, working with US officials, prepared maps, regulations, and a draft government resolution, Kan said.

The plan includes access roads and potential expansion zones for each settlement.

The West Bank is home to around 144 official settlements and over 100 unofficial outposts, covering approximately 42% of the territory, including their jurisdictions. These areas house about 600,000 Israeli settlers.