Ethiopian maids ‘dumped’ in the streets in Lebanon as COVID hits

Ethiopian mother Alemtsehay Nasir went to Lebanon dreaming that her maid’s job would let her earn money to make a better life for her young son.

But she was fired when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and her employers dumped her on the streets.

The 32-year-old was left on the curb outside the Ethiopian consulate in a suburb of Beirut, one of hundreds of women abandoned by employers without the means to get home after the pandemic hit, on top of a financial crisis that has devastated the Lebanese economy.

Lebanese labour laws offer little protection for migrant workers.

The best the women can hope for is that a charity will help them get home.

Ethiopia accounts for the biggest percentage of migrant workers in Lebanon, according to Lebanese government data.