Articles and views shared in the Weekly News Report do not necessarily represent ARM’s views. Information in these articles has not been fact-checked by ARM and may contain some errors. ARM is simply compiling all news relevant to migrant communities to inform our advocacy efforts and to facilitate the work of organizations that cater to migrant communities.

Security Agents Arrested Following The Torture and Murder of a Syrian Man [here] and [here] 

On August 31, Bashar Abdul Saud, a Syrian detainee, was murdered inside one of the cells of the General Directorate of State Security. Images showed signs of brutal torture, which led to a fatal heart attack, as further investigation showed.

Five security agents, suspected of torture and murder, were arrested in the south of Lebanon and the Lebanese military judiciary opened an investigation on Friday, September 2nd.

The General Directorate falsely referred to Abdul Saud’s death as an “incident.”They also tried to justify the torture, claiming that Abdul Saud confessed to belonging to ISIS, Megaphone News reported. 

Furthermore, Security agents suspected of Abdul Saud’s murder falsely claimed that he “died of a heart attack having taken an overdose of captagon pills,” according to The New Arab newspaper.

Images that were acquired by France-Presse, and that circulated on social media, show evidence of “electric shocks, whipping and beatings that bruised and wounded the man, ultimately leading to his death,” according to the New Arab newspaper.

More information about the arrest, as well as documentation of similar cases, can be found here:

• “State Security Crimes. Torture, Framing and Sabotage” Megaphone News, September 5, 2022;

• “Many Apparatuses, One Approach: Arrest. Torture. Justification” Megaphone News, September 7, 2022;

Lebanese Officials are Sending War and Work Restriction Threats to Syrian Refugees and UNHCR Workers [here] and [here]

Religious officials in Lebanon are publicly threatening Syrian refugees with a “second war,” while government officials are threatening with strict measures, specifically “work restrictions,” and legal action against non-governmental organizations that support Syrian refugees.

During an interview, the Head of the Maronite Church, Patriarch Bechara Al-Rahi threatened Syrian refugees with a “second war that [Syrians] are bringing upon themselves.” He also blamed them for “impoverishing the country,” which has been proven over and over to be false.

As for government officials, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdallah Bou Habib said that Lebanon is preparing a list of demands to the UNHCR, like demanding data about registered refugees in Lebanon, that, if rejected, “Lebanon will take strict measures against them [UNHCR], like restricting their work.” Bou Habib also threatened with “legal action.”

As for updates on the government’s plan to deport Syrian refugees, Najib Mikati assigned Abbas Ibrahim, Director of the General Security, responsible for following up with the Syrian government on the so-called “safe return” of Syrian refugees – wrongfully referred to as migrants. Ibrahim claimed in an interview that Syria is “safe” for return, despite countless reports proving otherwise.

For comparison and more information about the alleged safety of the plan, the living and work conditions of Syrians in Lebanon, you can check out Megaphone’s dossier titled “Syrian Refugees; What not to Believe,” as well as an overall analysis of the racism that Syrians face in Lebanon, all of which can be found in the links compiled below:

• “The Myth of Cash Aid” Megaphone News, August 31, 2022;

• “The Myth of Luxurious Living” Megaphone News, September 2, 2022;

• “The Labor Market and Unemployment” Megaphone News, September 9, 2022;

• “Forced Deportation and ‘Safe’ Return” Megaphone News, September 17, 2022;

• “التنظيم الأسري على الطريقة اللبنانية: واقٍ ذكري مع كل ربطة خبز للاجئين” Dima Charif via Megaphone News, September 9, 2022;

• “اللاجئون السوريون كرهائن للصراع والتطبيع” Ziad Majed via Megaphone News, September 17, 2022;

Relationship Dynamics between Lebanese Employers and Migrant Domestic Workers under Kafala [here]

Raseef22 released a video, in which it interviews Shadia, a Lebanese civil engineer talking about her experience employing live-in migrant domestic workers, and Inoka, a migrant domestic worker talking about her experience with 2 different employers.

The testimonies describe the lived experiences of migrant domestic workers in Lebanon, employers and their relationships with domestic work in the framework of Kafala.

Inoka shares her story of arriving in Beirut through a recruitment agency and the inhumane treatment she faced from her first employer: working for 16 hours a day, not being allowed to sit anywhere but the kitchen and having limited access to kitchen ingredients to make food for herself.

In contrast, the second time Inoka came to Lebanon, her second employer gave her Sundays off. During which, she was able to go to church and connect with a community of migrant workers and activists.

Inoka explains how, under the Kafala system, access to good work and living conditions depends on the relationship between employers and migrant domestic workers.

Shadia, on the other hand, felt that the pressure of working to sustain a household income and raising her children at the same time put her in a situation that “forced” her to employ a migrant domestic worker.

She admits that there’s a problem with Kafala, however, she believes that the demand for Kafala comes as a result of husbands who don’t split house duties equally with their wives.

It’s important to note that the structure of the Kafala system puts migrant domestic workers in a significantly legal disadvantage, which creats an unequal power dynamic with their employers, regardless of good or bad treatment. Treatment is one aspect of the situation to look at, but it individualizes a systematic and structural problem. 

“Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous:” a Love Story and a “Political Slogan” in the Face of Racism [here]

A film by Lebanese-French Wissam Charaf, centered around a love story between an Ethiopian domestic worker and a Syrian refugee residing in Lebanon, has won the Europa Cinemas Label 2022 award at the Venice International Film Festival.

The director of the film, which stars Ziad Jallad and Clara Couturet, described their “impossible” love story as a “political slogan” against racism in Lebanon and the region.

Here are two clips from the film.

General Security Publishes List of Arrests, Entry/Exit, Work Visas disaggregated by nationality from Mid-July to Mid-August [here]

The General Security Office (GSO) published a breakdown of arrests, entry/exit, and work visas between mid-July and mid-August in the new issue of the GS journal released on September 1st. Highlights included the following:

• Nearly 291 migrants and refugees were arrested and interrogated;
• 283 migrants and refugees were released from detention after interrogation;
• Around 4,094 work visas were granted to migrant workers mostly to Ethiopians, Kenyans and Sierra Leoneans. There is no information on how many of these work permits were granted to newcomers.
• 258,048 foreigners and migrants entered Lebanon compared to 236,491 who left in the said time period.