Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Lebanon (Ratification: 1977)

The Committee notes with deep concern that the Government’s report, due since 2018, has not been received. In light of its urgent appeal launched to the Government in 2021, the Committee proceeds with the examination of the application of the Convention on the basis of the information at its disposal.

The Committee notes the observations of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) received on 1 September 2018.

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. Vulnerable situation of migrant domestic workers to conditions of forced labour. For a number of years, the Committee has been expressing concern about the situation of migrant domestic workers who are excluded from the protection of the Labour Law and have a legal status tied to a particular employer under the kafala (sponsorship) system, which places workers at risk of exploitation and makes it difficult for them to leave abusive employers. The Committee urged the Government to ensure that the Bill regulating the working conditions of migrant domestic workers be adopted in the very near future and to fully protect them from abusive practices and working conditions that amount to forced labour.

The Committee notes, from the observations made by the ITUC, that there are over 250,000 migrant domestic workers working in private households in Lebanon. The ITUC points out that, while the Government has formed a national steering committee on domestic work and discussed various draft policies covering migrant domestic workers, none was passed into law. Furthermore, the exclusion of domestic workers from labour legislation and social protection exacerbates the power imbalance between employer and employee created by the kafala system and their vulnerability to abuse, exploitation and forced labour. In that regard, the ITUC indicates that migrant domestic workers continue to report routine confiscation of their passports, long working hours, refusal by their employers to allow sufficient time off, forcible confinement to the workplace, poor living conditions, delayed or non-payment of wages, and verbal, physical and sexual abuse.

The Committee notes that a revised Standard Unified Contract (SUC) for the employment of domestic workers was adopted by the Ministry of Labour on 8 September 2020, which included new protections for domestic workers, such as the possibility to terminate their contract without the consent of their employer and other guarantees afforded to other workers, such as a 48-hour work week, a weekly rest day, overtime pay, sick pay, annual leave and the national minimum wage, with some permissible deductions for housing and food. It notes, however, that following a complaint made by the Syndicate of Owners of Recruitment Agencies before the administrative court, on 14 October 2020, the Shura Council (Council of State) decided to suspend the implementation of the SUC on the ground that it represented “severe damage” to the agencies’ interests.

In this regard, the Committee notes that, in their concluding observations, several United Nations treaty bodies expressed persistent concern about: (1) the suspension of the implementation of the revised SUC for migrant domestic workers; (2) the delay in the adoption of legislation to protect migrant domestic workers, who are mainly women from Africa and Asia; and (3) the situation of migrant domestic workers under the kafala system who are vulnerable to abusive working conditions, in particular delayed payment or even non-payment of wages, long working hours, denial of time off, withholding of their identity documents, forced confinement, bonded labour-type situations, and verbal, physical and sexual abuse, treatment that has intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic (CEDAW/C/LBN/CO/6, 1 March 2022, paragraph 49; CERD/C/LBN/CO/23-24, 1 September 2021, paragraph 24; and CCPR/C/LBN/CO/3, 9 May 2018, paragraph 39). In this regard, the Committee notes that, as recently highlighted by the ILO, the economic crisis faced by Lebanon combined with COVID-19 has exacerbated the socioeconomic precarity of women migrant domestic workers and their potential to be coerced into forced labour, in particular with regard to excessive working hours, unpaid wages, and being pushed into having an irregular legal status (ILO, Women Migrant Domestic Workers in Lebanon: A Gender Perspective, 2021, page 4).

While acknowledging the challenging circumstances currently faced by Lebanon, the Committee notes with deep concern that migrant domestic workers are still lacking adequate legal protection and continue to be subjected to abusive employer practices which might cause their employment to be transformed into situations that can amount to forced labour. The Committee therefore urges the Government to take the necessary measures, without delay, in order to provide migrant domestic workers with adequate legal protection, including by ensuring the effective implementation of the revised Standard Unified Contract and the adoption of the Bill regulating the working conditions of domestic workers, and to provide a copy of the legislation, once adopted. It requests the Government to provide information on any progress made in this regard, as well as on any legislative changes adopted or envisaged to review the kafala (sponsorship) system. The Committee also urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that, in practice, migrant domestic workers who are victims of abusive practices and working conditions that amount to forced labour are provided with adequate protection and assistance as well as remedies. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information in this regard.

Article 25. Penal sanctions for the exaction of forced labour. The Committee previously noted several alleged obstacles faced by migrant domestic workers with regard to their access to justice, and urged the Government to take measures to ensure that employers who engage migrant domestic workers in situations amounting to forced labour are subject to really adequate and strictly enforced penalties. The Committee observed, in this regard, that section 569 of the Penal Code establishes penal sanctions against any individual who deprives another of their personal freedom, and that according to the information provided by the Government this section should apply to the exaction of forced labour.

The Committee notes that, in its observations, the ITUC points out the lack of accessible complaints mechanisms, lengthy judicial procedures and restrictive visa policies which dissuade many migrant domestic workers from filing or pursuing complaints against their employers. Even when migrant domestic workers file complaints, the police and judicial authorities regularly fail to treat abuses against domestic workers as crimes, and workers are often returned by the police to the employer that they sought to lodge a complaint against, or find themselves detained for not having legal residency status or because the employer has filed a counter-complaint against them for stealing. In the ITUC’s view, a major obstacle to migrant domestic workers’ access to justice is the limitations placed on their ability to remain in Lebanon after they have left their employer. As soon as a legal complaint is in process, the employer can terminate his or her sponsorship obligation rendering the migrant domestic worker an illegal resident.

The Committee also notes that, in their concluding observations, several United Nations treaty bodies expressed persistent concern about: (i) the fact that many migrant domestic workers are unaware of the remedies available to them in the event of a violation of their rights; (ii) the existence of barriers faced by migrant domestic workers when seeking to report abuses and the risk of imprisonment or deportation faced by migrant domestic workers who sue their employers, given the restrictive visa system; and (iii) the fact that perpetrators of violations go unpunished (CEDAW/C/LBN/CO/6, 1 March 2022, paragraph 15; CERD/C/LBN/CO/23-24, 1 September 2021, paragraph 26; and CCPR/C/LBN/CO/3, 9 May 2018, paragraph 39).

In this regard, the Committee recalls that, pursuant to Article 25 of the Convention, the exaction of forced or compulsory labour shall be punishable as a penal offence, and when the envisaged sanction consists of a fine or a short prison sentence it cannot be considered as an effective penalty of a dissuasive nature in view of the gravity of the offence (see 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 319). Emphasizing that it is crucial that appropriate criminal penalties are imposed on perpetrators so that recourse to forced labour practices does not go unpunished, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that: (i) migrant domestic workers have access to justice in the event of a violation of their rights and are protected against any measures of retaliation or deportation; and (ii) sufficiently dissuasive penalties are applied to employers who engage migrant domestic workers in situations amounting to forced labour. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken to strengthen the capacity of law enforcement bodies in this area, as well as on the number of cases of forced labour of migrant domestic workers investigated and prosecuted, the number of convictions handed down and the penalties imposed.

In light of the situation described above, the Committee notes with deep concern the repeated failure of the Government to respond to the Committee’s comments since 2018. The Committee must also express its deep concern that migrant domestic workers are not granted adequate legal protection and continue to be subjected to abusive employer practices, including delayed or non-payment of wages, withholding of their identity documents, denial of time off, forced confinement and verbal, physical and sexual abuse which might cause their employment to be transformed into forced labour situations. Lastly, the Committee observes the existence of barriers faced by migrant domestic workers when seeking to report abuses and the fact that the perpetrators of violations go unpunished. The Committee considers that this case meets the criteria set out in paragraph 114 of its General Report to be asked to come before the Conference.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.

[The Government is asked to supply full particulars to the Conference at its 111th Session and to reply in full to the present comments in 2023.]