NGO helps repatriate 130 migrant women in Lebanon

Al Midan, an NGO in Lebanon, has successfully helped the first batch of 130 Sierra Leonean women return home.

On its Instagram page, Al Midan expressed gratitude for the community's support.

"Thanks to the efforts of many, the women will finally return home. At Al Midan we’ve prepared 200 travel bags filled with messages of love from Lebanon to each of them."

A group of young Lebanese individuals played a crucial role in providing the women with shelter, meals and daily support, offering a lifeline in a time of crisis.

Video footage from Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport captured emotional scenes as the women embraced each other and shed tears of joy and sadness. Some women holding babies were seen expressing their relief at being repatriated after a month of uncertainty.

The repatriation efforts come after a difficult time when, on October 4 amid Israeli attacks in Beirut, migrant workers, specially those of African origin, were left vulnerable.

Most of the women were left without access to emergency shelters as the situation in Lebanon deteriorated. With local shelters at capacity, many were forced to sleep in the streets or public parks to avoid attacks.

Spokesperson for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) Rula Amin had previously highlighted the dire conditions in Lebanon.

"Most of the nearly 900 government-established collective shelters in Lebanon have no more capacity," she said.

The head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Lebanon, Mathieu Luciano, had also expressed his concern for thousands of domestic workers, often female migrants, who he said were "abandoned" by their employers and faced limited shelter options

According to Dara Foi'Elle from Migrant Workers' Action, a Lebanese NGO, migrant women face extreme difficulty, specially those working as freelance domestic workers.

"They are paid per hour and often find themselves in precarious situations with little support," she said.

On social media, many users expressed their solidarity with the women, sending messages of encouragement and wishing them luck as they begin their journey home.

TimesLIVE