ALBAWABA - After over eight years of violence and abuse, an Ethiopian worker becomes the first in history to file a lawsuit against her Lebanese employer in the historic case, Daraj Media reported.
For the first time in Lebanon, Ethiopian worker Meseret Hailu is suing her employer who detained her for eight and a half years.
According to local media sources, the domestic worker filed the lawsuit in 2020 following international pressure from the global legal movement and the spread of her story in the media.
Domestic workers have been facing harsh circumstances in Lebanon, especially after the deteriorating economic situation following the COVID-19 pandemic and Beirut's port blast. Many said that they were kept in Lebanon against their will, while several others complained their bosses didn't pay their salaries for months.
AFP reported in 2020 citing Tarik Kebeda, an Ethiopian worker in Lebanon, "I love Lebanon, but I don't want to live here anymore." "There's no more work. How will I eat?"
Hailu is one of the thousands of female migrant workers who have suffered horrific violations and "enslavement" due to the "sponsorship system" in Lebanon, which excludes them from the labor law and leaves them at the mercy of their sponsor and employer.
