World Mental Health Day 2025
Over the past six years, Lebanon has endured one compounded crisis after another: economic collapse, political paralysis, social unrest, the Beirut Port explosion, and now, the devastating war that has once again exposed the deep inequalities shaping the country. These crises have had a profound impact on the population’s mental health, but their toll has not been evenly felt. Among those most affected are the approximately 230,000 migrant domestic workers trapped in Lebanon’s abusive and exploitative Kafala system.
This year’s World Mental Health Day theme, Access to Services: Mental Health in Catastrophes and Emergencies, emphasises the urgent need to ensure that mental health care remains accessible to all, especially in times of crisis. However, for migrant domestic workers (MDWs) in Lebanon, access to such services has always been systematically denied.
During the Israeli war on Lebanon, migrant women were once again reminded of their invisibility. Countless MDWs were denied access to emergency shelters, humanitarian aid, and evacuation efforts, as their lives were deemed expendable. While embassies struggled to provide even minimal assistance, many women were left trapped in employers’ homes under conditions of fear, confinement, and isolation. These experiences did not occur in a vacuum; they are the latest manifestation of a decades-long culture of exclusion and abuse enabled by the Kafala system, which ties a worker’s legal status to their employer and grants near-total control over their mobility and freedom.
The mental health impact of these intersecting layers of violence is staggering yet persistently overlooked. MDWs face a daily reality of institutionalised racism, misogyny, and labour exploitation, compounded by the trauma of displacement, separation from family, and the burden of caregiving responsibilities under oppressive conditions. For many, the cumulative stress has led to an epidemic of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and suicidal ideation. This epidemic remains unacknowledged by most humanitarian actors and state institutions in Lebanon.
While the international community often frames mental health in emergencies as a universal need, it rarely addresses the structural barriers that determine whose mental health is prioritised. In Lebanon, MDWs are largely excluded from national health and social protection systems. They are rarely seen in public health campaigns, and when services do exist, they are often linguistically inaccessible, culturally insensitive, or unaffordable. The result is a silent humanitarian crisis within a crisis, where the women sustaining households across Lebanon are left without the basic right to care for their own minds and bodies.
The problem is not only one of access but also of recognition. The trauma endured by MDWs is not incidental but rather a direct consequence of an economic model that devalues migrant labour, a migration regime that normalises confinement, and an aid sector that frequently reproduces exclusionary hierarchies. Even well-intentioned organisations struggle to respond adequately, constrained by limited funding, donor priorities, and fragmented mandates. Trauma-informed, community-based, and holistic psychosocial support approaches, ones that center migrant women as agents of healing rather than passive beneficiaries, remain rare exceptions rather than the norm.
As Lebanon continues to navigate instability, it is crucial to understand that mental health is not a luxury, but a right, and one that cannot be realised without dismantling the systems of violence that undermine it. Addressing MDWs’ mental health means ending the Kafala system, reforming migration and labour laws, and ensuring that humanitarian responses are inclusive, equitable, and migrant-led.
On this World Mental Health Day, we call on the Lebanese government, international organisations, and local actors to:
Migrant Workers’ Action has submitted an Input to the UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, after a call for submissions by civil society to discuss trafficking of MDWs as well as the prevention, rights protection and access to justice. The Kafala system is enabling trafficking and, with it, modern-day slavery in Lebanon. Download our briefing to learn more about the issue and read our elaboration based on previous research reports.
Migrant Workers’ Action is releasing a statement regarding the vulnerability and obstacles many Migrant Workers are currently facing, due to legal obstacles and the further escalation of violence in Lebanon.
The term Kafala means ‘Sponsorship’ in Arabic. The Kafala system is a sponsorship system for migrant workers in Lebanon, as well as several other Arab countries, which governs migrant workers’ immigration, employment, residency and personal status in the country.
The responsibility for all matters relating to the MDWs falls under the purview of the sponsors, who are also the employers of the MDWs. The sponsors/employers have unchecked power over the MDWs’ lives in regards to their legal status, employment, health care, accommodation and private lives. This essentially gives impunity to employers to confiscate their passports, overwork them, deny their wages, deprive them of food and reasonable sleeping conditions and inflict physical and sexual abuse. In addition, the Kafala system does not allow for workers to change jobs or leave the country without the employers’ consent.
In short, the Kafala system is an exploitative system that gives employers tremendous and often-abused power over migrant women who work, sleep and eat in the homes of these same employers.
In many cases, the Kafala system enables or promotes the practice of one if not most of the previously mentioned international legal concepts, including human trafficking, modern-day slavery, debt bondage and domestic servitude.
It is clear that the Kafala system is not justifiable under international human rights law and the governments of Lebanon and other Arab countries applying it as an immigration system for cheap labour should be held responsible. The international community should encourage these governments to abolish the Kafala system completely and replace it with a fair and just immigration and labour system based on international human rights law and international labour standards.
Labour migration is defined as the movement of persons from one state to another, or within their own country of residence, for the purpose of employment. Employment is one of the primary drivers of contemporary migration. It can involve paid employment or self-employment, and it can occur on a temporary or longer-term basis. As many as 169 million international migrants were either employed or seeking employment in a country of destination, accounting for 62 per cent of international migrants worldwide.
Source: International Organisation for Migration
In theory, the migration of workers from countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia to Lebanon falls under the definition of Labour Migration. However, due to the exclusion of migrant workers from Lebanese Labour Law and the Kafala’s system being based on restrictive private sponsorship by employers, its practice doesn’t fulfil the international legal standards of protection of migrant workers. The movement towards the abolition of the Kafala system doesn’t imply the prevention of labour migration but rather intends to provide government regulations and oversight according to labour and migration standards of international law. As long as the system continues to exist under its current set-up, it should be considered as state-sponsored labour exploitation enabling modern-day slavery and human trafficking.
Bonded labour, also known as debt bondage, occurs when people agree to unpaid labour as a security or amortisation against a loan or debt they either assumed themselves or on behalf of someone else. In theory, it is presented as an employment agreement, however, based on unpaid work to repay a debt, which oftentimes is not achievable and with work being under dangerous or extreme conditions.
The difficulty of settling the debts and the potential incurrence of additional debts often lead to a perpetuation of the exploitative situation.
Source: End Slavery Now
The Kafala system’s illegal and unethical recruitment practices include agencies in sending countries recruiting Migrant Domestic Workers with the requirement of upfront recruitment fees, which leads to many MDWs taking up loans with the agencies themselves, pushing them into the trap of debt bondage.
In some cases the MDWs covered the expenses of their legal/travel documents, flights and administrative fees, unaware that their employers themselves cover some of these fees.
There is a proverb in Arabic:
لم أشرب ماء البحر مثلك كل يوم، لكني أعرف شعور وطعم الملح في الفم
I never drank seawater like you every day, but I am familiar with its saltiness in my mouth.
I believe that the essence of this proverb is at the core of why I have dedicated my life to fighting for human rights. It encompasses the idea of empathy or understanding for another person’s suffering despite not having the exact same experience. It is about relating to the struggle or hardships of others to the extent that it feels part of one’s own experience.
I remember my first encounter with the concept of humanitarian assistance and civil society organisations. I was only ten years old when a Japanese organisation visited the Palestinian refugee camp where I lived in the heart of Beirut. During an activity for children, we stood in a circle and were asked to share our dreams for when we grow up. I immediately knew that my goal was to help people. So I stepped into the circle and proclaimed that I wanted to become a nurse because, as Palestinians, we often don’t receive medical attention.
I will never forget the moment when the interpreter, a Palestinian man, chuckled and told me that I would change my mind the minute I reached adulthood and would most likely end up in my husband’s kitchen. This moment became my awakening as an advocate of women’s rights with the ultimate goal of breaking out of these patriarchal limitations that my own circumstances would force on me.
As a Palestinian, I am fully aware of the limitations that the Lebanese state has put in place, with many of my rights being denied. Yet, these limitations and this lived experience of marginalisation are what push me to advocate for the rights of others. The thought that whatever little I can do, whatever problem I can resolve, and whatever help I can provide gives me the power and satisfaction to continue. I refuse to watch the perpetuation of injustice passively and instead want to be actively involved in the process towards change and justice.
This is what has led me to be part of the movement of working for Migrant Domestic Workers’ rights and against the Kafala system. I do understand the feeling of being away from my own land in a strange and hostile environment. I experienced the hardships of being a refugee in Europe and being reduced to a country of origin, which eventually also led to my decision to return to Lebanon.
I work for rights while at the same time don’t have rights myself. I don’t have a passport, and I am stuck as a Palestinian refugee in a country that treats me as a nuisance. This reality I am living is shared with the MDWs in Lebanon. I want to liberate myself from the consequences of Zionism, the same way I want migrant workers to be liberated from the Kafala system.
Palestinians don’t have the protection of the Lebanese labour laws. I share this main concern of exclusion with the MDW community that has repeatedly campaigned for change and inclusion under the legal framework of labour protection.
In Arabic, we say:
نقطة ماء في بحرك
Which translates into “A drop of water in your sea.” This expression is used to convey the idea that something is a tiny or insignificant part within a much larger and more significant context. In the Lebanese context, my drop of injustice is a drop in the sea of injustices that exist. I did suffer a drop of your suffering, so I do know its bitter taste.
Particularly, the limited access to services and the denial of rights are experiences I know myself, which is why I want to work against them on behalf of the MDW community in Lebanon.
This year, the experience of being Palestinian and working in the human rights field feels both cynical as well as necessary. The same colonial powers that deny me my right to return are also responsible for the capitalist exploitation and systemic abuse of women of colour under the Kafala system. The experience of Palestinian women being reduced to victimhood is a similar experience of MDWs being reduced to commodities in the households of the rich and privileged.
My faith in human rights has been shaken. The hopes I previously held on reclaiming the right to my land and fighting for the right to existence have been dampened by the current situation. This also has had a similar effect on my hopes of abolishing the Kafala system and the reality of achieving the goals of the MDW community towards true and real change.
If there is no justice for innocent civilians suffering under the relentless bombing in Gaza, then how can I hope for justice for the women trapped under the Kafala system?
يقولون إن فاقد الشيء لا يعطيه لا والف لا، فاقد الشيء يعطيه وبقوة
They say someone who misses something can’t give (offer) it. I say, on the contrary, someone who misses something offers it a thousand times more.
This expression conveys the irony or contradiction of privileges, suggesting that those who lack something are often more generous in giving it to others. Although I am struggling for my own rights, I also work even harder for the struggle of other people’s rights.
We share the same trauma of violence by white supremacy, colonialism and patriarchy. The perpetrators and the circumstances might differ, but the trauma experienced is the same, which is why the fight for justice and liberation is the same.
MWA developed a short brief focusing on the role of the IOM Lebanon Office following several concerns expressed by partner organisations. The brief summarises the challenges and concerns MWA has found through its work with migrant domestic workers, their communities, and CSOs. It aims to shed light on gaps within IOM’s system and work that lead to confusion, as experienced by MDWs in Lebanon. The brief is intended to advise IOM in its work by providing recommendations on current challenges.
On the occasion of International Day For the Abolition of Slavery, MWA is launching its report on the plight of Kenyan Migrant Domestic Workers on their migration journey to Lebanon. The report is the first of MWA’s In-Focus research series committed to providing an in-depth understanding of localised contexts and key drivers of migration in sending countries, leading MDWs to travel to Lebanon, as well as their experiences under the Kafala system in Lebanon.
In light of recent regional developments, MWA has contacted Embassies and Consulates to inquire about potential evacuation plans for Migrants should the situation escalate in Lebanon. We have compiled and saved the series of statements issued in a public Google Drive folder. We encourage the dissemination of this document to all Migrant Domestic Worker communities in Lebanon and recommend following the Embassies and Consulates on Facebook for updates.