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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Modern day slavery flourishes in Lebanon |
| 2008-12-20 |
| An Ethiopian housemaid lies bandaged in a government hospital after falling from a 12th floor balcony. She says her Lebanese employer pushed her off. "Madam asked me to hang the clothes. Then she came and pushed me from behind," the 25-year-old woman told Reuters. Too frightened to let her name be published, she said her employer had frequently threatened and abused her. "Madam would tell me, 'I will spill hot oil on you', so I hid the oil. She would take a knife and threaten to kill me. She would beat me with shoes, pull my hair to the floor," the injured woman said, her face still bruised a month later. According to the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), nearly every week one of an estimated 200,000 migrant domestic workers in Lebanon dies. Suicide, falling while trying to escape their employer and untreated illness are the main causes of death. The employers are rarely prosecuted. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #7 i think tipper was asking if the laborers were greek orthodox not the ones doing the killing |
| Posted by: rabid whitetail 2008-12-20 12:12 |
| #6 If a Greek Orthodox does any of these things, is it any less of a crime? The important thing is that the government fails to prosecute these types of crimes. |
| Posted by: Richard of Oregon 2008-12-20 11:18 |
| #5 Christian, Muslim, Greek Orthodox, Animist? Greek Orthodox are Christians, tipper. |
| Posted by: lotp 2008-12-20 10:23 |
| #4 Looking at the basic demographics in Lebanon, the annual death rate per 1000 is about 7. So, you would expect about 1,400 to die out of a representative group of 200,000 each year, which is roughly 27 per week.... If the HRW figures are correct, migrant domestic workers in lebanon are incredibly safe. |
| Posted by: Bunyip 2008-12-20 09:16 |
| #3 She would beat me with shoes Shoes, why do they hate us? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2008-12-20 08:24 |
| #2 No. Because they are like our own 'information' ministries which play 'Name That Party'. Professional courtesy of amoralists [it's about power, not about principles] |
| Posted by: P2k on holiday 2008-12-20 08:07 |
| #1 Did HRW trouble themselves to find the demographics of the perpetrators? Christian, Muslim, Greek Orthodox, Animist? I wonder who they might be? /s |
| Posted by: tipover 2008-12-20 01:12 |