The Plight of Domestic Workers in Lebanon

[malaise]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5203320.stm

<snip>

Sri Lankan maids stranded by war

When the bombs started pounding Lebanon, tens of thousands of Sri Lankan migrant workers were left to fend for themselves.

In a small town in southern Lebanon, a group of maids have been trapped by the destruction of the local infrastructure and employers who they say refuse to let them leave.

Truck carrying evacuees to safety
People have been fleeing the bombardment in droves
Padma, 22, described her terror to the BBC News website. "We tried to go away, but the employers won't let us. We have been so very scared," she said.

"They won't give us our passports. They want me to continue working here and they won't pay me the rest of my salary if I go now. I have been working for one-and-a-half years but I have only got three months' pay."

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[dipsydoodle]

1. Apparently there are over 90,000

Sri Lankans in Lebanon. That was mentioned on one of the UK news channels yesterday in context with the fact they have no apparent means of being evacuated.

[malaise]

2. Meanwhile

the bombs continue to drop on the innocent.