On August 8th, Egna Legna Besidet organized a one day workshop session on women empowerment, women leadership and solidarity. The event, was attended exclusively by women and held at the Padova Hotel in Beirut. Representatives of migrant domestic worker communities across Lebanon of 7 nationalities, activists and allies from Lebanon’s feminist networks were present. It was enlightening to hear so many women in the struggle share their experiences. We'd like to thank our generous sponsors who helped make the event possible, including RosaLuxemburg who did so with backing by the German government, as well as @globalfundwomen Migrant domestic workers who have battled back from endless suffering and rebounded are some of the strongest, most uplifting, and caring sisters out there. Lessons were passed down and the youths present are all the more wiser. These sisters have been battling not only to keep our causes relevant, but to accumulate funds and alleviate the suffering of as many sisters as possible. Solidarity amongst women will save this world and when we rise, our bond becomes one that even the kafala system can’t break it. #WomentoWomen #AbolishKafala #EgnaLegna #MigrantDomesticWorkers

On Friday, Egna Legna Besidet saw off another twenty of our sisters who boarded a flight from Beirut to Addis Ababa Ethiopia. As many of you are well aware, the moment a migrant domestic worker decides that she can no longer take the endless abuse at the hands of her employer and flees the home, she is rendered undocumented and frequently reported to police. Oftentimes, employers will falsely add that the victim stole money, jewelry, phone or anything else that comes to mind. And when that happens, victims of violence have arrest warrants in their name and are often arrested at the airport when they attempt to leave. From the twenty travelers, nineteen of them required the intervention of our lawyer to go through their files, clear the bogus complaints or negotiate a settlement with their employers. Four of the women were in prison after having been arrested at the airport while trying to leave the country. The others were stranded, desperate to leave the country but unable to due to their fear of being arrested and imprisoned indefinitely. As such, some were left in limbo for years. Thanks to funding from our partners and donations from our supporters worldwide, we were able to cover all legal and travel expenses, in addition to paying for their pcr tests and making sure they had a reasonable amount of clothes and necessities to travel with. Rent and food costs were also shouldered during their last few months prior to leaving. The faces of the women are covered, the faces in the pictures that are not covered are those of our staff who were on hand to see their sisters fly home and finally end their ordeal. We are as always, eternally grateful for the love and trust of our admirers around the world who help facilitate these rescue operations. I haven’t gone through the database since I’m away from the computer, so although I don’t have the exact figure right now, I can tell you that the number of women repatriated via Egna Legna Besidet has surpassed 600. We wish the best of luck to our sisters who are at home and finally reunited with their families! We love you all!

A year ago today, hundreds of people lost their lives and thousands of people were injured and a country was left in disarray. As we wish survivors strength and resilience, we hope that Lebanese society as a whole, including its migrants, rebound to rise and rebuild. May the fallen rest in peace. A gathering was organized in Beirut today on the anniversary of the blast gathered to remember friends and loved ones we lost and survivors who cope.#Beirut explosion

A year ago today, hundreds of people lost their lives and thousands of people were injured and a country was left in disarray. As we wish survivors strength and resilience, we hope that Lebanese society as a whole, including its migrants, rebound to rise and rebuild. May the fallen rest in peace.#beirutexplosion

According to the @Unnsafe , in the coming six weeks, around 4 million Lebanese will no longer have clean water. Most of them are running out of electricity and generators are short on oil meaning even hospitals can barely function. There are shortages of medication and food as well. In the midst of all this, hundreds of thousands of migrant domestic workers remain stuck in homes in Lebanon and are going unpaid. Those who are on their own cannot afford food, rent and medication. One woman told Egna Legna staff that she works 3 days a week and that nearly all of her wages are going to purchasing diapers and food for her baby. Other sisters are asking for a family in Ethiopia to send money to Lebanon. Both badly want to return home but can't afford to do so. In the past, Egna Legna supported over 15,000 migrant domestic workers with emergency relief including food, medical and rent costs and repatriated over 600 women. Now however, due to rising costs and shortages, we are no longer in a position to provide such aid. The world needs to rally on this one and ensure Lebanon's migrant domestic workers aren't forgotten. @UN @WFP @UNmigration

Solidarity with our Cameroonian sisters and fellow domestic workers toiling in Lebanon alongside us. They've launched a fundraiser to assist migrant domestic workers with food, shelter and repatriation costs. The link to their fundraiser is in our bio and story. Stand with our sisters! @togetherforevercmr

One of our sisters was sent to prison from the airport because her sponsor neglected to renew her residency papers and instead booked her tickets with an expired permit. Under Lebanon's kafala system, the sponsor should be penalized for her inability to renew her worker's papers. Instead, for her employer's laziness, it's our sister who is paying the price by being sent to prison.#abolishkafala #blacklivesmatter✊🏻✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿

MUST READ article in @aljazeeraenglish by @zekuetyopia about our migrant domestic worker sisters who vanish and disappear without a trace. This investigation highlights the plight faced by Meseret, Meskerem and Aster, three Ethiopian women who went to Lebanon to work but ended up in a cycle of abuse and enslavement, forced to work without a salary for years with no contact with the outside world. Their families feared they were dead. Meseret went 8 years without contacting family, Meskerem 5 years and Aster 6. Torture, beatings, confinement by three Lebanese families. Among the abusers, a dentist, a primary school teacher, businessman and business woman. Over the course of the article, the three women either escape or are freed with assistance of an organization called @thisislebanon961 isLebanon. Egna Legna Besidet paid for the flight home for one of the women, Aster. After we found her outside of the Ethiopian embassy we have since met with all of them in Ethiopia. We have covered therapy expenses. But they continue to battle the trauma which has left them mentally scarred. Returning empty handed to poor families in Ethiopia after many years of thankless labour has been a painful experience for them all. Read the story and learn the truths about the evil nature of the kafala system which we all need to band together to put an end to! Godspeed to our sisters Aster, Meskerem and Meseret, we love you! If anyone would like to help them in anyway, contact us, we would love to connect you. #AbolishKafala

Egna Legna Besidet intervened in the cases of another six of our migrant domestic workers sisters who had been imprisoned after their abusive workers called the police on them, claiming that they had stolen from them. After we were notified of their circumstances, we got a lawyer involved, covering the legal expenses for four of them before facilitating their returns home, covering their pcr test and air tickets expenses. Two others, including one who hadn’t been paid and is owed six months worth of wages, were sentenced to stints in prison. The sister owed six months worth of wages ended up spending seven months in prison, after her irritated employers got angry with her repeatedly asking to be paid. After both served sentences and were released from prison, Egna Legna arranged for their travel home to their family. Great that the ordeal of these women ended here. But the cycle of misery for many others, is far from over. #abolishkafalasystem

Another 35 of our fellow domestic worker sisters here in Lebanon boarded repatriation flights home putting an end to a saga that for some of them, dragged on for years due to their inability to leave the country because of complaints filed by abusive employers, among them false theft complaints and complaints against women declared runaways. Egna Legna’s lawyers took over their files and negotiated their clearances, paying fines were needed and ensuring that the women wouldn’t encounter problems at the airport. Egna Legna Besidet covered the flight, pcr testing and related expenses of 32 of the women. Three of them managed to book their own flights home. We are grateful to our partners and allies in other organizations who intervened to financially assist and shoulder legal expenses for 19 of the women. The legal limbo of a false theft charge leaves women cut off from siblings, parents, children, spouses for years. With no options, the women linger in uncertainty for years, risking arrest if spotted by authorities and waiting for an amnesty that may never come. It does our hearts well to know that 35 families are celebrating the return of a long lost daughter, mother and sister. We thank you all for the support you give us which enables us to do what we do! We will continue to work to repatriate more stranded sisters, condemned solely for running away from cycles of physical, sexual and verbal violence. #Oursisterskeepers #Egna Legna Besidet #Abolishkafala

Five Ethiopians who had lost their jobs, were arrested in Syria en route to Turkey. They were taken to Syria by human traffickers who with an agency, had promised to find the women jobs in Turkey. Instead, they were held captive, beaten and robbed. Later, they were handed to Syrian authorities who put them in jail. The five languished in a Syrian prison for nine months. After a kindhearted individual decided to get involved, we at Egna Legna Besidet learned of their plight. Our organization collaborated with individuals on the ground and arranged their releases. We also covered the costs of their travels, booking their flights home to Ethiopia. They are reunited with family, an end to a horrific nightmare. We urge all domestic workers to think twice about travelling with individuals claiming to offer jobs abroad. The dangers are many.

A @trtworld camera crew paid us a visit to the Egna Legna Besidet office in Beirut today, where we provide our sisters, fellow migrant domestic workers with food, medical supplies, and other necessities. As the effects of the pandemic and last year's economic crash continue to impact the migrant women of Lebanon, we strive to do what we can to hold it together for those languishing without work and with no money for shelter and food. We at Egna Legna Besidet, a migrant domestic worker founded and run organization...we are who we are and we do what we do, thanks to the love and generosity of people and organizations around the world. These continue to be testing times. We are grateful for the visit and hope the world pays attention to the plight lived by our sisters under the kafala system in Lebanon everyday.