Imagine leaving everything you know in the pursuit of better opportunities to support your family only to be forced to work for no pay, with no way out. This is exactly what happened to Sajita Lama, a former migrant domestic worker stuck in Lebanon. Shockingly, she is owed nine years’ worth of wages from her employers who forced her to work for no pay.   We won’t stand for this injustice. That’s why we’re calling on Lebanon’s Minister of Labour, General Director of General Security and the President of the National Commission for Lebanese Women to help Sajita secure justice.

Sign the open letter!

Sajita arrived in Lebanon in 2010. For the first year and nine months of her employment, she was paid for her domestic work in her employers’ home in Lebanon. But after that, her wages stopped. Sajita was forced to work for nine years with no pay, no days off, and her employers confiscated her legal documents so she couldn’t leave.[1] Her contact with the outside world was completely cut off. She was trapped.

Under the exploitative kafala system in Lebanon, migrant domestic workers’ visa and legal status are tied to their employers. In practice, this empowers employers to exploit domestic workers and subject them to conditions amounting to modern slavery because they know that migrant domestic workers are unable to leave without risking detention and deportation.

Sajita is currently residing in a shelter after Lebanese authorities removed her from her employers’ household in August last year. Those who manage to leave abusive employers are often deported from shelters without ever receiving their salaries.

Our partners at This Is Lebanon have been working closely with Sajita and her employers to reach an agreement. After long negotiations and legal action, Sajita’s employers offered a settlement of a bank check that amounted to approximately $500, just 15 cents per day for her period of work under conditions that amount to domestic servitude.

This is unacceptable – Sajita is owed around $22,000. Call on Lebanon’s authorities to ensure Sajita receives her wages.

Without her wages, Sajita is unable to return home to Nepal and support her family. That’s why we need to raise our voices to let Lebanon’s authorities know there is a global community calling for justice for Sajita.

Add your voice to the campaign today to see Sajita paid in full for her nine years of work so that she can rebuild her life.

In solidarity,

Miriam and the team supporting the Freedom United community.

Miriam Karmali Advocacy, Freedom United

[1] https://beirut-today.com/2021/08/25/a-decade-of-slavery-sajita-forced-to-work-without-pay-since-2012/amp/