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When Israeli bombs began pounding southern Lebanese villages late last month, thousands of families were forced to flee, with many leaving behind their domestic workers.
Miriam Kargabo, 32, from Sierra Leone, had been working for a family in the eastern city of Baalbek when she was abandoned. After Israel warned villagers to leave ahead of its ground invasion, her employers packed their bags and locked her out of the house.
“They just asked me to go and find somewhere safe,” Ms Kargabo told The National.
With no home and no passport, she made her way to Beirut, aided by three other migrant workers also left stranded by their employers. Like thousands of others, she is now sleeping rough on the streets of Beirut, surviving on handouts of food and water as the country comes under intense attack from Israel.
“I have no money and don’t even know when or how to go home,” she said.
According to Lebanese authorities, more than 1.2 million people – almost a quarter of the population – have been displaced since the conflict escalated last month. The death toll from Israeli air strikes has surpassed 2,000.
The Syrian Arab Red Crescent reported about 185,000 Lebanese and Syrians have fled to Syria since Israel intensified its offensive, with the aim of disabling militant group Hezbollah, preventing it from firing rockets at Israel.
As fears grow of a full-blown regional war, airlines have halted flights and several countries have begun evacuating their citizens. Yet many migrant workers, like Ms Kargabo, remain stranded, with no assistance available.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said it has received more than 700 evacuation requests since the onset of the war. Joe Lowry, an IOM spokesman, told The National the conflict poses a greater danger for migrants as they have no means to escape.
“We are aware of cases of migrants being locked in the homes of Lebanese citizens who are fleeing to look after their properties,” he said.
The IOM estimates about 175,000 migrants live in Lebanon, primarily from Ethiopia, Kenya, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. Many endure bonded labour, forced into exploitative working conditions with no legal recourse under the "kafala" system.
Mr Lowry said evacuations were a challenge due to limited services at Beirut's airport and most migrants lacking funds. Many workers based in the southern villages initially sought shelter in Beirut, but with Israel later expanding its air strikes to the capital they are again in harm's way.
Ayesha Safrulla, a migrant from Bangladesh living in southern Beirut, narrowly escaped when air strikes destroyed her apartment complex in the southern suburb of Dahieh.
“I think my madam and her two children are injured and in hospital. I slept on the streets for four days,” she said.
Ms Safrulla said she was turned away from government-run shelters that catered exclusively to Lebanese citizens. “Nobody wants us. We are also human beings trying to survive in this war,” she said.
Eventually, she found refuge in an overcrowded shelter run by an NGO. “I cannot go back home penniless. My children and parents depend on me,” said the mother of two, who has been in Lebanon for six years. “These bombs have killed my dreams.”
The only ray of hope are grass roots organisations that have stepped in to help.
In a country already suffering economic collapse, NGOs say they are doing what they can to help marginalised communities. Reman, a collective of African migrant workers in Lebanon, said it has been distributing food, blankets and other essentials.
“Yesterday, we distributed 100 plates of food in downtown Beirut, where many people are sleeping rough,” said the group’s founder Viany De Marceau.
A domestic worker turned fashion designer from Gambia, Viany established Reman in 2021 to support migrant workers affected by the Beirut port blast, which killed more than 200 people.
“Today we have more than 280 members trying to support other migrants,” she said. “There are rape victims, people who were abused, or not paid. We know what they have gone through and are doing what we can.”
Salma Sakr, spokeswoman for the Anti-Racism Movement, said a lack of state protection for migrant workers made them more vulnerable. “This was the case during the Covid-19 pandemic and other emergencies,” she added.
The workers rely heavily on small collectives for assistance. “Our volunteers are helping those on the streets by connecting them to shelters and NGOs,” Ms Sakr said. “It is believed there are an estimated 30,000 migrant workers in the south who were displaced. But that is a conservative estimate. And most of them are homeless now.”
Many NGOs have established hotlines and said they are receiving hundreds of calls from women seeking help finding shelter or returning home.
A member of the group This is Lebanon, who asked to remain anonymous, said there was an influx of phone calls from people living on the streets and domestic workers abandoned by employers. “We are referring them to shelters and ensuring they have food and safe places to stay,” she said.
“We are also helping [them] find flights and covering their air tickets. We co-ordinate with embassies to disseminate information about evacuation plans.”
Results
6.30pm: The Madjani Stakes (PA) Group 3 Dh175,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
Winner: Aatebat Al Khalediah, Fernando Jara (jockey), Ali Rashid Al Raihe (trainer).
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Down On Da Bayou, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
7.40pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Dubai Avenue, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) Dh190,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: My Catch, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
8.50pm: Dubai Creek Mile (TB) Listed Dh265,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Secret Ambition, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar.
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) Dh190,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Golden Goal, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
Citizenship-by-investment programmes
United Kingdom
The UK offers three programmes for residency. The UK Overseas Business Representative Visa lets you open an overseas branch office of your existing company in the country at no extra investment. For the UK Tier 1 Innovator Visa, you are required to invest £50,000 (Dh238,000) into a business. You can also get a UK Tier 1 Investor Visa if you invest £2 million, £5m or £10m (the higher the investment, the sooner you obtain your permanent residency).
All UK residency visas get approved in 90 to 120 days and are valid for 3 years. After 3 years, the applicant can apply for extension of another 2 years. Once they have lived in the UK for a minimum of 6 months every year, they are eligible to apply for permanent residency (called Indefinite Leave to Remain). After one year of ILR, the applicant can apply for UK passport.
The Caribbean
Depending on the country, the investment amount starts from $100,000 (Dh367,250) and can go up to $400,000 in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take between four to five months to receive a passport.
Portugal
The investment amount ranges from €350,000 to €500,000 (Dh1.5m to Dh2.16m) in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take a maximum of six months to receive a Golden Visa. Applicants can apply for permanent residency after five years and Portuguese citizenship after six years.
“Among European countries with residency programmes, Portugal has been the most popular because it offers the most cost-effective programme to eventually acquire citizenship of the European Union without ever residing in Portugal,” states Veronica Cotdemiey of Citizenship Invest.
Greece
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Greece is €250,000, making it the cheapest real estate residency visa scheme in Europe. You can apply for residency in four months and citizenship after seven years.
Spain
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Spain is €500,000. You can apply for permanent residency after five years and citizenship after 10 years. It is not necessary to live in Spain to retain and renew the residency visa permit.
Cyprus
Cyprus offers the quickest route to citizenship of a European country in only six months. An investment of €2m in real estate is required, making it the highest priced programme in Europe.
Malta
The Malta citizenship by investment programme is lengthy and investors are required to contribute sums as donations to the Maltese government. The applicant must either contribute at least €650,000 to the National Development & Social Fund. Spouses and children are required to contribute €25,000; unmarried children between 18 and 25 and dependent parents must contribute €50,000 each.
The second step is to make an investment in property of at least €350,000 or enter a property rental contract for at least €16,000 per annum for five years. The third step is to invest at least €150,000 in bonds or shares approved by the Maltese government to be kept for at least five years.
Candidates must commit to a minimum physical presence in Malta before citizenship is granted. While you get residency in two months, you can apply for citizenship after a year.
Egypt
A one-year residency permit can be bought if you purchase property in Egypt worth $100,000. A three-year residency is available for those who invest $200,000 in property, and five years for those who purchase property worth $400,000.
Source: Citizenship Invest and Aqua Properties
House-hunting
Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Westminster, London
- Camden, London
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Islington, London
- Kensington and Chelsea, London
- Highlands, Scotland
- Argyll and Bute, Scotland
- Fife, Scotland
- Tower Hamlets, London
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Reading List
Practitioners of mindful eating recommend the following books to get you started:
Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life by Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr Lilian Cheung
How to Eat by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Mindful Diet by Dr Ruth Wolever
Mindful Eating by Dr Jan Bays
How to Raise a Mindful Eaterby Maryann Jacobsen
SPECS
Toyota land Cruiser 2020 5.7L VXR
Engine: 5.7-litre V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 362hp
Torque: 530Nm
Price: Dh329,000 (base model 4.0L EXR Dh215,900)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
