Abang Sharon arrived in Lebanon on April 24 last year, having traveled there from Cameroon. The 21-year-old had a goal in Lebanon: to work and earn money so she could support her family back home.

An agency organized everything for her to get to Lebanon, but later on, in a video published by a migrant rights organization in early December, Sharon talks about how she was working "in a toxic family." No wages, no secure contract, no protection and always this feeling that nobody can really help her.

The rights organization, This is Lebanon, or TIL, explains in a post on its website that Sharon "worked for her first employer for only one day, without payment. The second family had her work for two weeks, but instead of compensating her directly, they paid $60 to the recruitment office, which Sharon never received. It was in the third household that Sharon's exploitation escalated. Beginning in May 2024, Sharon was tasked not only with household duties but also with cleaning her employers' two business premises."

Despite all of that work, Sharon wasn't paid her agreed-upon salary of $200 (€170) per month for eight months. Her employers explained that they'd already paid the agency $2,000, as if this is an appropriate excuse for not paying Sharon herself.

Sharon's physical health deteriorated, and she reported chest pains and frequent nosebleeds. When she told her employers that she didn't want to work anymore, her meals were withheld.

It is not until she contacted TIL that things began to change. The non-profit has been standing up for the rights of migrant workers in Lebanon since 2017 and, if all else fails, is known to publicly name and shame those involved in their exploitation. TIL often manages to recover some of the money owed to workers but says that what is really needed is structural reform and genuine accountability.  

'Sponsors' exploit migrant workers

Because Sharon's story is not the only one like this. Her experience is part of a system known around the Middle East as "kafala." This is an Arabic word for "sponsorship" or "guarantee" and what the system basically does is link a migrant worker's legal presence in a country with their employer, who acts as their "sponsor" or "guarantor."

Often worst impacted by the exploitative nature of the kafala system are women from African or Asian countries who labor in private Lebanese households. Domestic workers are excluded from local labor laws and their sponsors usually confiscate their passports when they arrive. This gives the sponsor-employer a great deal of power over the employee and establishes conditions for exploitation and even violence.

Melissa Kouame N'Guessan Epiphanie of the group, Union Fait la Force (in English, this means "together we are stronger"), knows this system all too well, as she came to Lebanon from the West African country, Ivory Coast, several years ago.

"The kafala system has massive negative effects on migrant women," she says. "Many of them experience the confiscation of their passports, unpaid wages and a complete loss of freedom." 

Her group was first founded in August 2023 but announced itself officially in November this year. Around 30 women from different countries belong to the group and Kouame N'Guessan Epiphanie says they have already achieved a lot, providing help for the homeless, for children and for the sick.

She explains how aid is usually organized. If a woman is in danger of some kind, the community is informed. People mobilize and alarm the group's network, which then organizes what is needed.

Another organization, Egna Legna Besidet, plays a role alongside Lebanese and international groups. It focuses mostly on women from African countries, and from Ethiopia in particular, who have been mistreated or abused in Lebanon.

'Breaking' kafala contract is a crime

Local lawyer Mohana Ishak explains the kafala system from a legal perspective. She is the head of legal affairs and advocacy for the anti-trafficking unit at another local organization called Kafa.  

Kafa Violence and Exploitation ("kafa" means enough) was first founded in 2005 and previously focused on domestic violence. Since 2010, it has also concentrated on migrant domestic workers.

Ishak explains how kafala works. A "kafeel" or guarantor pays money to bring a domestic worker into the country and for many guarantors, this seems to make them think they have some kind of "ownership" of the worker.

The amount paid depends on the woman's origin — English language skills, education and racism all play a role. The women are usually only allowed to live with their guarantor, often without their own room. Some sleep in the kitchen or on the balcony. Some are taken to other households or set to work in a guarantor's businesses — like Sharon — and usually without extra payment.

If a migrant worker should try to leave, they risk committing a crime. Anybody who leaves their guarantor can be arrested and charged with breaking a contract.

"What's happening here in Lebanon is modern-day slavery," Ishak states plainly. 

Does the Lebanese government care? 

There is a telephone hotline for migrant workers that was set up by the local ministry of labor. But according to TIL and Kafa, the hotline is not much use. Complaints seem to have no consequences. It is unclear as yet whether Lebanon's new government, formed in February 2025, is taking this issue seriously at all.

What is clear is that, despite years of campaigns and advocacy by human and migrants' rights groups, the kafala system is still present in Lebanon. 

One important reason for this is its economic impact. Business at the agencies that bring the foreign workers into the country — and which are often accused of exploitation, forced labor and human trafficking — is worth around $57.5 million (€48.9 million) a year in total.

In 2022, agencies successfully blocked the creation of a standard contract for migrant domestic workers. Lebanon's highest court explained that such a contract would damage the agencies' business. A review of their human rights obligations was omitted. 

This is why the organization Kafa works at two levels. It offers those affected help directly but also lobbies local politicians. The work is about protection, accommodation and legal support but at the same time, also about political pressure: setting standards, changing language and outlining responsibilities.

But there's a problem, Ishak says, and this is around the culture of kafala and a lack of awareness that it could be a problem. Many guarantors see themselves as the victims and they also demand gratitude from the migrant women. 

The Lebanese state forbids discrimination but Ishak has seen many examples of how racism impacts the migrant workers. For example there are swimming pools that don't allow migrant workers in the water. That's if they're even allowed on the premises. Ishak has seen this herself. She has also regularly seen migrant domestic workers sitting at separate tables from their employers at restaurants.

This isn't a small problem either. Kafa estimates that before the COVID-19 pandemic, Lebanon was hosting around 250,000 migrant domestic workers. After the pandemic, the numbers fell to around 60,000 but have recently climbed again to total about 150,000.

Shamed into action

Behind these numbers are people like Sharon.

In February of 2025, Sharon managed to get back to Cameroon, but only with $300 of her wages of eight months.

The agent who brought her to Lebanon and her employer both said the other was responsible and it was only when TIL got involved and threatened to publicize the case, that the agent became more amenable and offered to settle her account.

The fact that Sharon managed to get her wages didn't come down to any official help. It was only due to a dedicated network of advocates in Lebanon and the threat of bad publicity. Or, as TIL argues, it shouldn't require the threat of a social media post to receive one's salary.

This story was orginally published in German.