VZCZCXYZ2848
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLB #0340/01 0651549
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 051549Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY BEIRUT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1207
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA PRIORITY 0132
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO PRIORITY 0108
RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA PRIORITY 0136
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 2024
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO PRIORITY 2288
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
RHMFISS/USCENTCOM SPECIAL HANDLING MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS BEIRUT 000340 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/GAVITO 
DEPT PASS TO EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE 
DEPT FOR NEA/ELA, DRL, G/TIP MARK LAGON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB KCRM PHUM SMIG SOCI CE CF ET LE MA NP
RP 
SUBJECT: LEBANON: CHARGE VISITS SAFE HOUSE FOR TRAFFICKING 
VICTIMS 
 
REF: BEIRUT 151 
 
SUMMARY 
-------- 
 
¶1. (U) On March 4, the Charge visited the G/TIP-funded Safe 
House operated by Caritas in partnership with the 
International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC).  The 
residents, all women, told stories of abuse and exploitation, 
while at the same time displaying the strength and courage to 
leave their abusive situations and seek help.  Caritas has 
done an extremely effective job of providing care for the 
women while at the same time seeking justice and resolutions 
to their detrimental situations by working with cooperative 
GOL officials.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Charge d'Affaires a.i. Sison met the President of 
Caritas Lebanon's Board of Directors for the Safe House, 
Kamal Sioufi, and Caritas's Safe House Director, Najla Tabet 
Chahda, at the G/TIP funded Safe House in Beirut.  Emboffs, 
Caritas staff, and twenty trafficking victims were also 
present for the visit.  Despite the reasons for the women's 
presence in the Safe House, their mood was upbeat and 
hopeful.  Many were excited to meet and talk to the Charge, 
some one-on-one.  G/TIP has provided more than $700,000 over 
three years to support the Safe House's operations.  The 
women were from the Philippines, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, 
Madagascar, and Congo. 
 
G/TIP SAFE HOUSE ONLY ONE OF 
ITS KIND IN THE REGION 
--------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) The Charge began the visit by talking with the Safe 
House's residents in a large group setting.  The women 
described their stories and talked about the mistreatment 
they faced at the hands of their individual employers (Note: 
The overwhelming majority of the women worked as household 
employees.  End Note.)  After the group meeting the Charge 
toured the facility, which has the ability to comfortably 
house 12 women at any given time, but can accommodate twice 
this amount in an emergency.  Usually, the women spend their 
days working with Caritas to advance their individual legal 
cases, and to take care of their shared living quarters. 
They also make handbags and scarves, which Caritas sells. 
The women use the profits to help buy extra necessities for 
day-to-day living. 
 
¶4.  (U) After the tour the Charge watched a presentation 
about the Safe House.  The G/TIP-funded Safe House has 
accommodated 206 victims of trafficking since its launch in 
¶2005.  The nationalities of the women include women primarily 
from the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Ethiopia; but also, 
women from Madagascar, Congo and Nepal.  Of the twenty that 
were present on this March 4 visit, almost half were 
Ethiopian. 
 
¶5.  (U) The Safe House provides victims with protection and 
assistance, trauma counseling, legal aid, social counseling, 
and support for repatriation.  In addition to the project's 
external caseworkers and lawyers, there is a social worker 
permanently on staff at the Safe House.  In 2007, the Safe 
House received 98 victims of trafficking and assisted 90 
women with their subsequent legal cases.  Most foreign 
household employees earn between $100 and $300 dollars a 
month, depending on the nationality of the worker (Note: A 
Filipina maid is paid an average of $150-$300 a month, while 
a Sri Lankan or Ethiopian employee generally receives around 
$100-$150 a month.  End Note.) 
 
WOMEN TELL STORIES OF ABUSE 
AND EXPLOITATION 
--------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) The Charge later sat down with the newest arrival to 
the Safe House, "Mary" (not her real name), for a one-on-one 
conversation.  Mary left her two children, aged 9 and 4, to 
 
come to Lebanon to work as a household employee to support 
her struggling family back in the Philippines.   Mary worked 
as a maid in the household of a Lebanese employer, who began 
beating her soon after her arrival.  Mary remained in this 
abusive situation for over a year and a half.  Finally, after 
a brutal beating she received for leaving her employer's 
house without permission, she left and sought refuge in the 
Safe House after hearing about it from a friend. The local 
employment agency which helped bring Mary to Lebanon did 
little to remove her from her situation, even after she 
complained about the abuse. 
 
¶7.  (U) Mary's former employer still has her passport and has 
told Caritas officials that he is going to destroy it to deny 
Mary the ability to leave Lebanon and return home.  Caritas 
is planning to go public with this story if the Lebanese 
employer does not return Mary's passport and also pay for 
Mary's return to the Philippines.  Chahda said that often 
Caritas, rather than the employer, is left with the bill to 
pay for the women's airline ticket back home.  Caritas is 
trying to enact changes in the Lebanese penal code that would 
force the abusive employer or the negligent employment 
agencies either in Lebanon or the woman's host country, to 
pay for the ticket home, Chahda added. 
 
¶8.  (U) A Sri Lankan woman, who had been a resident at the 
Safe House for over five months, said the family she worked 
for withheld her wages for a period of seven years.  Her only 
reason for staying in the house was because of her love and 
affection for the children whom she had raised for the past 
seven years before finally leaving.  Three women from the 
Philippines who thought they were coming to Lebanon to work 
in a household instead found themselves working long hours in 
a resort.  Their passports were taken and they were beaten 
and imprisoned in a small room when off duty. 
 
GOL MAKING A GOOD 
EFFORT TO STOP TIP 
------------------ 
 
¶9.  (U) The GOL cooperates with Caritas to resolve TIP cases 
and does not attempt to hinder or interfere to any great 
extent in investigations.  Chahda noted that General Security 
(the lead GOL agency in charge of TIP cases) now has a black 
list of abusive employers, which prevent people from this 
list from hiring any future foreign household employees. 
However, Chahda noted that more should be done to go after 
the agencies, in Lebanon and abroad, which brings the women 
to Lebanon without properly checking to ensure their safety. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶10. (U) Caritas/ICMC has submitted a $439,682 project 
proposal to keep the Safe House operating and to conduct 
training for government personnel.  Post has submitted a 
cable recommending continued support for this program (Reftel 
A) and urges approval.  End Comment. 
SISON