Migrant Workers Campaign: Their Home is My Prison – LeMSIC Lebanon

Name of the activity: Migrant Workers Campaign: Their Home is My Prison

Country/NMO: LeMSIC Lebanon

Program: Emergency, Disaster Risk & Humanitarian Action

Contact information: contact [email protected] to get in touch with the Activity Coordinator

Type of the activity: First-time Activity

Category: Campaign

Focus area: Disaster resilience (including prevention, preparedness and response), Populations in emergency, disaster and post-disaster settings

Sustainable Development Goals addressed: SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions)

Problem statement:

Lebanon is home to over 250,000 migrant domestic workers. These workers are excluded from the Lebanese Labor laws and governed instead by the kafala (sponsorship) system. This system allows the exploitation of migrant workers who face severe consistent forms of abuse, including severe restrictions on movement, and verbal and physical abuse. LeMSIC launched its Migrant Workers Campaign to support migrant workers and raise awareness on the exploitative nature of the kafala system

Target groups:

• General population
• Medical students
• Migrants

Beneficiaries:

• Migrants

Objectives:

Before the end of April:

Deliver at least 2 sessions to at least 35 medical students in each session on the rights of migrant workers.

Launch at least one donation drive to support at least 20 protesting migrant workers.

Provide adequate medications for at least 12 protesting migrants with access to adequate healthcare services and referrals

Collaborate with at least one organization to vaccinate at least 500 migrant domestic workers and other migrants.

Publish at least one booklet of migrant workers testaments and share with at least one NGO dealing with migrant workers.

Draft at least one national policy document on rights of migrant workers in Lebanon.

Indicators of Success:

Objective 1: 

At least 35 medical students attend each session

At least 85% of students attend the entire session

Objective 2:

Posts calling for donations are shared at least 25 times.

At least 5 boxes of different donations are received by migrants

Objective 3: 

At least one doctor volunteers their services and offers general check-ups for migrants

At least 10 migrants have adequate health education when it comes to COVID-19 prevention and management

Objective 4:

At least 50% of the vaccines administered are the patient’s first doses of the vaccine

At least 60% of migrant and refugee patients ask volunteers questions on the awareness material provided

At least 75% of volunteers express that the activity made it easier for them to communicate with migrants and provide them with adequate healthcare information

Objective 5:

At least 16 testaments are collected from migrant workers.

At least 20 individuals provide positive feedback upon reading the booklet.

Methodology:

Deliver sessions to medical students on the rights of migrant workers and the reality of the kafala system.

Design informative posts to be shared on social media.

Coordinate with a group of protesting migrant workers and offer adequate aid and support for their protest against the kafala system on the ground 

Document testaments from migrant workers on the experienced abuse in order to be published.

Adopt a national policy document on the Rights of Migrant Workers and the Kafala System and conduct a stakeholder mapping to identify relevant externals for the implementation of the policy document (ex: IOM).

COVID-19:

Improve health education and access to healthcare among protesting migrant workers and follow up with workers with COVID-19

Organize with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) a vaccination campaign tailored for migrant workers and other migrants in order to increase their accessibility to healthcare and health education.

Plans for evaluation:

Quantitative Evaluation: 

Pre- and Post-Evaluation: A Pre-Evaluation form will be sent to the session participants prior to the sessions. A Post-Evaluation form will be sent to the participants after the end of the session along with a feedback form.

A full report of the donation drive will be drafted with donations tracked.

Full report on the vaccination activity that tracks the number of vaccines administered and patient information is going to be drafted in coordination with the IOM. 

Qualitative Evaluation:

Informal Evaluation: This type of evaluation will be used throughout the sessions  to make sure the knowledge is acquired by the participants properly. The participants’ discussions will also be evaluated in the assessment.

Informal feedback on the event from both International Organization for Migration (IOM) on LeMSIC’s contribution during the vaccination marathon, in addition to the feedback from volunteers on the activity and its beneficence.

External collaborations:

International Organization for Migration: for the vaccination campaign dedicated for migrants

Rafic Hariri University Hospital: venue from the vaccination campaign

Holy Spirit University of Kaslik: logistical support for the sessions

Beirut Arab University: logistical support for the sessions