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They have landed at Addis Ababa airport, the capital of Ethiopia, in successive waves for a year. Hundreds and hundreds of women, repatriated by the Ethiopian authorities, who worked as domestic servants in Lebanon before finding themselves without shelter or employment.
For months, as the country of the Cedars sank into an economic, social and health crisis, they waited on the sidewalk of the Ethiopian consulate in Beirut. Some jetties there by employers who came to drop them off by car as we get rid of bulky items.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 60,000 Ethiopian migrants have been repatriated from the Middle East since January 2020. Men, often employed in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, but also many women, recruited as ” good ”in the Levant and on the peninsula.
Of the approximately 250,000 foreign domestic workers working in Lebanon, it is estimated that nearly half are Ethiopian. Workers of all ages, often from modest and rural backgrounds, to whom recruitment agencies dangled the El Dorado.
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A new call for air due to Covid-19
Beatings, harassment, deprivation of food, exploitation… In the Levant, “maids” are often confronted with abuse and racism from their employers. Their salary – when paid to them – fluctuates between $ 100 and $ 300 per month. An amount about twice the average income in Ethiopia, but which is far from compensating for the mistreatment that some suffer.
The phenomenon is such that several centers have opened in Ethiopia to take care of returnees, especially since the great wave of repatriation of 2013, following a crackdown by the Saudi authorities against undocumented migrants. At the time, more than 160,000 Ethiopians had been expelled from the Middle East. Despite border closures and travel restrictions, the Covid-19 has created a new call for air.
“We were very surprised at the influx. In times of pandemic, we were expecting a lull ”, says Fiseha Melese, head of Agar programs, an association that helps repatriated Ethiopian women.
After a quick psychological test when they leave Beirut and then arrive in Addis Ababa, the most vulnerable women are referred to structures like Agar, which has three centers in the Ethiopian capital – one for men and two for women. . Created in 2005 to meet the needs of the elderly, the association was converted seven years ago to provide psychological support for migrants who are victims of violence in the Middle East. In total, it welcomed 911 women in 2020. Almost twice as many as in previous years.
“Abused, depressed, sexually assaulted”
They are 24 living today in one of its shelters, an innocuous three-story house on the edge of Addis Ababa. Completely protected from the outside world, fed, housed, laundered, the residents can stay up to a year, depending on their condition. Some have been there for a few days, others for more than six months. They do not go out very often, mainly for appointments with psychiatrists in the hospital.
” It’s like a puzzle that must be put together, Explain Eden Ayele, the psychologist of the Agar association. We are dealing with abused, depressed and sometimes sexually assaulted women. One of them was locked in a cellar for nine months. He was forced to make bread fifteen hours a day. She didn’t see the light of day for almost a year. “
Known for its deleterious effects, the Lebanese system of kafala (guardianship) is the door open to a lot of abuse. With complete impunity, some employers confiscate the passports of their servants or restrict movement. It was to escape this ill-treatment that Wekitu Nata fled his ” Mrs “.
No more beatings, insults, late payments. No more papers that allowed him to work legally in Lebanon. The young woman, dressed in her only domestic clothes, wandered the streets of Beirut at random until she found compatriots ready to accommodate her. She lived several years clandestinely in the Lebanese capital before being repatriated in December 2020.
Dignity scorned
Three years after escaping, Wekitu is still haunted by her former employer. She has attempted suicide three times and from her stay in Lebanon have physical stigmas, including serious gastric problems because her boss has her. “Deprived of drinking water for six months”.
Cases of touching and sexual assault are also common. According to Eden Ayele, some of the domestic workers in Agar’s care were forced to watch pornographic films with their Lebanese employers. “It is their dignity which is scorned there, their humanity which is despised”, laments the psychologist.
Almost all of the residents with post-traumatic stress disorder were prescribed antidepressants. Treatments that make some people look dazed. ” Our strategy is to keep them active throughout the day, assures Eden Ayele. The busier they are, the less their old demons disturb them. “
After the morning sewing workshop, however, a newcomer burst into tears. A panic attack, then another. Memories that resurface. A sudden urge to leave the home. Used to these runs, the team manages calmly. The young woman is reasoned. She will attend the afternoon group therapy devoted to different forms of professional success.
A hairdresser, a cafe or the sidewalk
” Today is better than yesterday, tomorrow will be better than today », We repeat in the heart, in a room where music therapy sessions usually take place. Team games, improvised plays… Everything is intended to strengthen self-confidence and get them out of isolation. ” We work on self-esteem, explains Eden Ayele. They are made to understand that they do not have to feel guilty about their situation, that they are in fact the victims.. “
“Tomorrow” also rhymes with their future departure from the cocoon, the return to civilian life. More or less successful conversions. While several former “maids” managed to open cafes or hairdressing salons, others ended up turning to prostitution to survive. The Thomson Reuters Foundation reveals in an investigation that some had no other choice but to sell their bodies, too ashamed of not being able to provide their families with the money promised at the time of their exile.
” The family is the main challenge, slice Fiseha Melese. Sometimes they reject them because the girls come back from Lebanon empty-handed. Hagar also works with these relatives, often to temper their judgments. ” It is not easy for them because sometimes they spend months of salary to send them to the Middle East and feel betrayed He continues. One of the association’s tasks is therefore to do pedagogy, to explain abusive working conditions, assaults and salary deductions.
If Wekitu Nata says to himself ” in a better position to think about my future in Ethiopia », She still does not have a defined professional project. On the other hand, she is sure of one thing: she will never try the Lebanese adventure again. ” My message to young people who think they are making a fortune in Lebanon is that we hardly earn more money there than here, and that we are mistreated there ”, she specifies.
But the number of candidates at the start does not seem to dry up. ” We know that there are always many potential migrants ready to take the northern route illegally. », Laments Fiseha Melese.
