Migrant workers 'denied access' to Lebanon's government shelters as war rages, says IOM official

Local community groups step in to host vulnerable migrants who are turned away by local authorities

Migrants are particularly vulnerable amid the war in Lebanon, the IOM says, as many fear seeking assistance because they are undocumented. Photo: IOM

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Denied access to government-run shelters, over 25,000 migrant workers displaced by Israel's bombardment in Lebanon face abandonment without transport, cash, or passports amid rising sectarian tensions, Mathieu Luciano, head of the International Organisation for Migration in Lebanon, told The National.

At least 200,000 migrants live in Lebanon, mostly from Ethiopia, Bangladesh, South Sudan and the Philippines. Many work for Lebanese families as child minders or domestic help. They are particularly vulnerable because the country's "kafala" employment system means their employers have no clear legal requirement to protect or care for them.

"It's always more complicated for migrants to seek safety. Those who are irregular, and without papers or documents are reluctant to seek assistance worrying they will be arrested or deported," Mr Luciano said.

“IOM estimates that approximately 25,000 migrants have been displaced by the conflict. The vast majority are in need of humanitarian support, including shelter, food, and protection assistance,” he said.

Some have been "evicted or denied access to government shelters" he added, causing them to seek "alternative solutions" in the form of emergency centres set up by local communities, such as the one operated by the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in Nabatieh in south Lebanon.

"On the first day of escalation, we tried to refer 70 people who had walked all night to get to us. We called every single government hotline, none of the shelters we spoke to were willing to take them," JRS programme director Michael Petro told The National.

A week later, the JRS finally got approval from a shelter in Tripoli saying it would accept dozens of East African migrant workers who had turned to the group for assistance. They were bussed in, transported and allowed in, Mr Petro said. But the good news was barely celebrated before reality took over.

"The next day, they were kicked out by local police and municipality workers," he said. "Even the welcomes were short-lived and difficult."

The IOM is recording and tracking incidents such as these and has established a redress mechanism with the Lebanese government, Mr Luciano explained. The UN organisation has also been co-ordinating commercial and charter planes to evacuate foreign workers who wish to return home, with priority being given to those in the most vulnerable situations, and who cannot afford a plane ticket.

The process is "difficult and challenging" and logistically complex, Mr Luciano said. With flights to and from Lebanon largely halted, the IOM has had to work with embassies to arrange charter flights.

"Up to 10,000 migrants require assistance, based on requests from embassies and the migrants themselves," the group said in a November report. Since the beginning of Israel's escalation of hostilities in Lebanon in September, the IOM has managed to help 400 migrants leave Lebanon - to Sierra Leone, Bangladesh and two coming flights to Ethiopia, Mr Luciano said.

With most official shelters now full in places where they are needed the most, Mr Petro says the need to give what little space remains to displaced Lebanese people is "understandable" but does not come from space issues alone.

"The base reality for migrants is racism. They face so much discrimination on a daily basis so even if it's prioritisation of Lebanese civilians by the government, it's often laid in with prejudice," he said.