(11 February 2016) “Protection of the rights of migrant and refugee women in Lebanon” is a CELIM project – amounting to €859.217, and co-financed by the Italian Development Cooperation for a total of €453.938 – that wants to protect migrant women who are victims of violence and abuse, ensuring the restoration and operation of two shelters dedicated to this fragile group. The center in the Beirut suburbs is home to about 60 women – informs the Italian Local Technical Unit for Lebanon, Syria and Jordan – mainly from Ethiopia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka, who arrived in Lebanon to work as domestic assistants and soon become victims of violence and other forms of discrimination. The staff that manages everyday duties and the various activities is made up of people from the same countries of origin, in an effort to make these women feel less isolated. If the women request it, the center – located in an undisclosed location for security reasons – manages the bureaucracy of the return procedure and travel logistics. Before then, the women who choose the center as their safe haven spend their days taking part in language classes, basic computer classes, as well as other creative and recreational activities. Stefano Fogliata is Celim’s country representative, the NGO that together with Caritas Lebanon Migrants Center (LCMC) is implementing the project: “Almost all women who arrive to Lebanon – explained Fogliata to the Italian Local Technical Unit operators – re driven by the desire to contribute to the income of their families back home. Despite their young age, most of these women left children in their hometown, because economic emigration is conceived almost exclusively as a means to ensure that these children can have a different perspective of life. Whenever these women encounter insurmountable difficulties in their experiences abroad, they oftern perceive it as a complete failure: their disillusionment, along with the humiliation often felt after they become victims of violence and abuse, push the majority of them to return home. Once they reach home, they sometimes leave again, in search of better fortune another country of the region”. (Red)
