Source: The Daily Star
BEIRUT: A gathering of NGOs and right groups called on the Lebanese authorities Tuesday to investigate thoroughly in the death and injury of three migrant domestic workers last week.

In a joint statement, the Migrant Domestic Workers Coordination Consortium and other civil society NGOs called on the judiciary to open "rigorous and serious" investigations after the death of two workers and the serious injury of another in just a week.

On Nov. 6, Emebit Bekele Biru was found hanged at her employer's house in the Naameh area. Friends of her employers told MDWCC that the worker had recently engaged in a dispute with her husband on the phone, and that she seemed "very disturbed."

"The investigation concluded that Biru committed suicide and the case was closed," the statement said.

One day after, Derhemesh Labou fell from the third floor of a building in the Shoueifat area and died immediately. The NGOs said it "remains unclear" whether any criminal charges were pressed or if the judiciary classified the death as suicide.

On Nov. 10, Birkutan Dubri fell from the fourth floor of a building in the Moseitbeh area. According to the groups' statement, eyewitnesses heard Dubri and her employer arguing minutes before she jumped off the window.

The incident, which occurred right in front of the Lebanese International University, was recorded on video. The NGOs said police was unable to question the employer at the time because she was "very upset."

"Migrant domestic workers deaths could be linked to the restrictive Kafala system that ties the domestic worker to one employer for the duration of her contract and does not guarantee her the absolute right to quit or the freedom of movement," the statement said. "While trying to escape abusive employers or poor living conditions, many migrant domestic workers end up falling to their deaths."

The groups called on the government to abolish the Kafala system entirely, and to launch further investigations in the death incidents of all migrant workers instead of automatically classifying them as suicides.