Lebanon: the Eldorado or the hell for Malagasy female workers?

26 years old Rosina came back home, sick, with a couple of broken legs, and without a penny in the purse. Such a scene has become usual whenever Malagasy worker are being evacuated from Lebanon. She underwent violences, as many more before her did. She tells her story with much more delirium and craziness than consistency. Rosina hazily remembers to have been pursued by her boss throughout the apartment. She would have been pushed overboard, from the first floor. Before being repatriated, the young woman spent one month and half in a hospital, to Lebanon.  

The Lebanon file is a problem for the Malagasy authorities, particularly for the ministry in charge of Population seemingly more preoccupied than the department in charge of Work and Social Laws. There is a feeling of impotence despite the actions launched from the embassy in Paris or from the consulate in Lebanon. The HAT is actually only keen on avoiding any link between the misfortunes of Malagasy workers in Lebanon and the failure to get international recognition. The minister in charge of Population Nadine Ramaroson has started to address the issue, but there is still a very long way to go. Some 400 workers complained to security forces and accused their bosses of ill-treatment. The Malagasy authorities got in touch with 23 victims.  

The situation is more that tricky for some 51 young women without contract. Three workers have been diagnosed with tuberculosis, a sickness generally spotted from people weakened by various physical abuses. Three other workers are on the run while 18 got in touch with the consulate in view of a possible return to home soil. This balance sheet presented by the HAT ministry in charge of the Population definitely represents a small part of the alleged 8000 expatriates working in Lebanon. “It is a complicated file”, conceded the HAT minister Ramaroson. “These are private contracts, and this does not make things easier for the state “.  

24 years old Lalaina, left her studies for the Lebanese dream. She is now part of the happy endings: she earns twice more than the basic salary, free from charges, from a nice boss! “I basically came here as a housekeeper, as everyone else did, but in the end, I am now the baby-sitter and tutor of my boss’s children “, she explained. Her asset? a good educational level and the ability to speak french in this partly french speaking country. The qualification is very much appreciated by her boss, since his own wife has problems with the French language. “I’m the one helping the kids with their homework”, proudly told Lalaina.

The young woman  displayed concerns when hearing about her colleagues’ bad luck. “I don’t think that girls barely able to read and write should be sent abroad; they cannot provide for their own self defense since violence is first and foremost a matter of psychology prior to a physical confrontation”. According to Lalaina, people with comfortable incomes could afford housekeeping services. Now is different, the new bosses belong to the middle class “, she said as explaining the outbreak of ill-treatments. She is intending to remain on duty for five more years at the same place. “My youngest little one will have entered college, and then I’ll be able to come home and start a new life”.