On a cold January afternoon in a busy neighborhood in Lebanon’s capital Beirut, women began to arrive at Insaaf Center. Some carried children; others walked in alone, their faces weary from long hours of work and years of hardship. All were migrant domestic workers, women whose lives are tightly controlled by an exploitative sponsorship structure in the Middle East known as the kafala (sponsorship) system. The system ties a worker’s legal status to an employer, often leaving them trapped in abusive or precarious conditions.
Inside the center, the coordinator handed out winter supplies provided by MERATH, the relief and development arm of Thimar. One by one, the women received jackets, blankets, and milk for children to help meet urgent needs. For many, the aid provided a brief moment of relief in lives constrained by long hours, uncertain employment, and few legal protections.
“They receive very low salaries,” said Melanie, the ministry leader of INSAAF. “Receiving these items takes one worry off the long list of expenses they already have.”
Insaaf is a Lebanese Christian organization that supports and advocates for migrant domestic workers. Through medical assistance and access to clinics, food support, vocational training, computer and language lessons, and weekly Bible studies, Insaaf serves women who often go unseen in Lebanese society.
MERATH partners with Insaaf to strengthen this work. In addition to the winterization support that’s currently being distributed, MERATH also supports Insaaf with hygiene items and food e-cards.
Each year, Insaaf supports around 1,100 women and their families from 22 countries. Many work in domestic care roles, helping families with cooking, cleaning, childcare, and more; others are unemployed or live without legal residency.
Insaaf originally began as a prison ministry. Its team would visit migrant women held in prisons and detention centers across Lebanon. That work continues today. Volunteers pray with women, sit with them, and distribute Bibles.
The challenges migrant domestic workers face are persistent. Under the kafala system, many lose their residency status when employers refuse to renew paperwork. Others never receive their salaries. Without legal documents, women struggle to move freely, enroll their children in school, or seek medical care.
“Since COVID-19, many of the migrant workers have lost their income,” Melanie said. “Many employers are unwilling to renew their residency, which is why they end up in detention centers and prisons across the country. This makes their situation extremely difficult and leaves them very vulnerable.”
Aside from its prison ministry, the organization runs weekly Bible studies, one for general attendees and another specifically for mothers.
“We’re just trying to be a safe place to gather these women,” Melanie said.
Insaaf partners with several medical clinics to help cover consultation fees and, when possible, laboratory tests or surgeries. A volunteer family doctor now visits the center once a week and provides free medical consultation to women.
“That’s a huge help (for these women), because their focus isn’t on taking care of their health,” Melanie said. “There’s also a stigma when entering medical institutions, and they may face discrimination.”
Migrant domestic workers in Lebanon fall largely into two groups: live-in workers, who remain mostly unreachable, and live-out workers, who move between households and rely on informal networks. Insaaf primarily reaches the latter, through word of mouth and partnerships with churches for migrants.
For Insaaf, the partnership with MERATH has brought visibility to a population often overlooked.
“We’ve been so grateful for all the help and all the prayers,” Melanie said. “Since we’ve been on MERATH’s radar, I feel that God has taken us from under the rug. We are a hidden population, migrant domestic workers, and He has brought us into the light. Even with all the needs in Lebanon, migrant domestic workers have continued to be seen, and we’ve been so blessed by that.”
Lydia’s Story
Lydia* was one of the women who arrived at the center in January to receive support. Insaaf provided her a jacket and blankets, items supplied by MERATH that she said will help keep her warm in the absence of heating in the mountainous area where she lives.
Originally from Kenya, she arrived in Lebanon in July 2014. She was in her mid-twenties at the time, fleeing an abusive marriage and poverty, and hoping to rebuild her life. Instead, she entered a cycle of exploitation that lasted for years.
“I remember the first day I arrived,” Lydia said. “When she (my employer) picked me up from the airport, instead of welcoming me like a guest or showing me around, she gave me a pile of dishes in the sink to clean. The first thing she handed me was a mop.”
It was then that Lydia realized she had not come to Lebanon for a safe escape but to work as a migrant domestic worker.
After a month of mistreatment, including physical abuse, Lydia’s employer sent her back the office of the company that arranged for her to come to Lebanon. She spent 14 days there.
“I was eating food meant for the dog,” Lydia recalled. “She (the agent) was buying pizza for her dog. After the dog finished, she gave me the leftovers.”
Eventually, the office sent her to another household, where she worked from dawn until late at night, caring for children, cooking, and cleaning. She paid for all her personal expenses from the $200 she received each month. She had barely half an hour a day to eat, and even that little time was often interrupted by the children. After a year, Lydia was fired and forced out of the house without her passport, even though she had completed the full term of her contract.
Left without work, documents, or protection, and burdened by penalties she owed for overstaying in Lebanon, Lydia found herself in vulnerable situations. At one point, she said she was forced into prostitution as a means of survival.
Four years ago, a friend introduced her to Insaaf. The center supported her during one of the most difficult periods of her life.
“They treated me well,” she said. “They gave things that included sanitary towels and food that lasted me a few months.”
Last summer, Lydia worked at a seasonal restaurant, cleaning toilets. Today, she is pregnant and struggling with high blood pressure. She has no consistent income and no access to antenatal care.
“Pregnancy is not something you can joke with,” she said. “This is a human being, and I have to take care of him or her.”
When asked who helps her with her situation, or whether she has anyone supporting her, she said, “It’s only me and me.”
Lydia’s story is one among the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers living in Lebanon under the kafala system, which has been described by human rights activists and organizations as modern-day slavery.
Maya’s Story
Maya*, an Ethiopian mother, has been living in Lebanon for 11 years. Before her daughter Anna* was born, she worked as a cleaning lady. After marrying a Sudanese worker she met in Lebanon, she had to stop working. Her husband’s income alone is not enough to cover their family’s basic needs, especially after they discovered that Anna, now two and a half years old, has a severe spinal condition called spina bifida.
“At first, of course, I didn’t know what her problem was,” Maya said. “I just knew something was wrong, and it was very worrying for me.”
She learned about the Balassan clinic, which is jointly supported by MERATH and Insaaf, through a friend who had taken her own daughter there. The clinic provided an initial diagnosis and referred Maya to a specialist at Hotel Dieu Hospital for spinal cord issues. It quickly became clear that Anna required a very specific surgery.
“I haven’t been able to go back to work after Anna’s birth, and the little income my husband gets is not enough to even meet our family’s basic needs,” she said. “We have no health insurance, and we cannot afford such an expensive surgery. This is why we were so thankful that Balassan decided to cover the entire cost of the surgery.”
Anna had the first part of her surgery a few months ago. The recovery was difficult.
“For two months, she was in a lot of pain, and I needed to change her bandages every day,” Maya said. “It was very difficult because she is so young, and it was hurting her. She is too young to express herself, but I am sure it created a big trauma for her.”
Now, Anna’s posture and walking have improved, though she still needs the second part of her surgery, which will involve a metallic structure being inserted into her back. “I am dreading it, but I know we must do it,” Maya said.
Insaaf also supports Maya and her family. With help from MERATH, the center provides food parcels, milk, and diapers, essentials that have become even more crucial given Anna’s condition.
“Because of her condition, it’s crucial that my daughter continues to drink milk, which is very expensive nowadays. She also still needs diapers, so I’m thankful I can get some for free through Insaaf,” Maya said. Maya cannot return to Ethiopia, especially now that she has a daughter.
“In Lebanon we can still find work that is better paid than in Ethiopia, and I have no one there who could take care of my daughter like she needs,” she said.
Despite the many challenges, Maya is grateful.
“The clinic helps us a lot and makes a huge difference in our life,” she said”. If it weren’t for them, I could never have afforded the surgery. Even more, I might never have known what my daughter’s condition was. People here (at Insaaf) really care about us and treat us like family.”
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