BEIRUT, LEBANON – At the Ethiopian Consulate in Beirut, a poster declares “Ethiopia: 13 weeks of sunshine” as two officials sit at their desks. The three chairs in the waiting room are usually occupied these days: In just one recent week, the mission heard of one Ethiopian domestic worker who died a suspicious death and another who is in hospital with both legs broken, possibly paralyzed, and can only communicate by blinking her eyes.
The previous week, a woman walked in shaking. When the social officer asked her what was wrong, she replied that her “Madame” – her employer – threatened her with a knife.
It has long been the case that women from impoverished countries like Ethiopia come to Lebanon to work, that many encounter abuse and even violence, and that most find they have nowhere to turn.
Elinore Molla and Victoria Andarge, two Ethiopian women who are involved with the Full Gospel Church in Beirut, have turned an apartment they are renting into a makeshift sanctuary for women who flee their employers after facing some sort of abuse.
“The consulate doesn’t have a resting room. Women sleep under the cars [outside the consulate], so many guys come and harass them. They are only 20 years old with a future and destiny. I take the decision in my life to suffer for them,” said Molla, 27, who is originally from Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa.
Molla first found out about the women sleeping underneath the cars about a year ago.
“When I was walking I saw the girls,” she recalls. “I found four girls … I was shocked. They said, ‘help us.'”
She took them into her home, which today houses about two dozen women at any given time. “I’m Christian, I’m a believer,” she told The Daily Star. “Everyday I see my people and my nation, with no one to take responsibility. The idea comes from God – helping protect someone who was abused. I ask the girl when I take her to my home: ‘What’s the problem with your sponsor?’ And she says, ‘so many things.'”
The head of the social affairs office at the Ethiopian Consulate, who preferred not to be identified by name, confirmed that women continue to sleep under cars near the mission until this day.
There are several problems with the situation of domestic migrant workers in Lebanon, she explained: “It is not only Ethiopian workers facing problems, but because women from other countries stopped signing contracts, the number of Ethiopians increased.”
There is currently no reliable data, but the consulate estimates the number of Ethiopian workers in Lebanon to be between 40,000 and 50,000, a substantial increase since the number of women coming from Sri Lanka and the Philippines dropped off following the 2006 war with Israel – and attendant stories of abuse and neglect. The Ethiopian government officially barred its own women from coming to Lebanon earlier this year, but many are now traveling here through third countries.
The head of the consular section, who also did not want to be named, said that problems frequently begin from the day of arrival. Many sponsors do not adhere to the terms of the contracts, he explained, such as duration, remuneration, and hours of work expected.
What is even more problematic, he added, is when agencies do not take responsibility when a woman files a complaint, paving the way for a volatile relationship between the workers and their employers.
“We are facing a lot of problems,” he said. “One problem is by the housemaids, second by the sponsors. Since we are foreigners to this country we have a different culture, so from the beginning it is difficult for her to get accustomed.
“But I want to turn to the sponsors’ problem,” he added. “There are a lot of problems from sponsors, they don’t pay salaries on time, they treat them aggressively, they don’t get enough food, and they don’t provide shelter.”
According to the consulate, some 70 percent of employers who employ Ethiopians don’t pay their employees on a monthly basis.
“Sometimes they close the balcony and make them sleep on the floor,” added the head of the social affairs office, “and they beat her to make her understand. That’s why she becomes aggressive toward agencies, the consulate and herself.”
Most troubling of all, the mission says it has been sending a record number of corpses back to Ethiopia.
The consulate estimates that 150 women have died in a little more than a year, and there is no accountability.
In one recent case, Mekdes Tesfaye Tefera’s corpse was found with a noose around her neck. But the consulate has doubts that this was a self-inflicted death and has filed a police report.
“They always say, ‘she killed herself,'” the social affairs officer said.
In the case of Zebiba Kedr, who is currently hospitalized, the consulate is working on having charges laid against the woman for whom she was working. The employers have stated that Kedr fell from the 12th floor of their building, but the head of the consular section said that when he went to see her in the hospital and asked her “Madame” had pushed her, she indicated ‘yes’ by blinking her eyes.
Stories like these make the unofficial shelter run by Molla and Andarge even more essential. Andarge said the agencies were the main problem, accusing them of “playing a game” with people’s lives. The government needs to get involved, she added, and make sure the agencies take responsibility for the women and how they are treated.
The consulate representatives said they had an agreement with all the agencies that said the latter were to be responsible for the women they bring to Lebanon, and that this is why mission does not have a shelter.
The nongovernmental organization Caritas offers a safehouse for workers who are flee their employers’ homes, but Molla said that these spaces are usually reserved for those who are very sick or have psychological problems.
Molla is one of the lucky ones. She came to Lebanon when she was 17 years old and says she has always been well treated by her employer.
“She is like my mom, she is Lebanese, and she supports me. I love her,” Molla told The Daily Star.
But since she regards her own experience as the exception rather than the rule, she discourages other Ethiopian women from traveling to Lebanon for work – a process which she described as getting easier by the day.
“The Lebanese name is collapsing everywhere,” she said, explaining that in Addis Ababa, Lebanon’s reputation is causing fewer and fewer would-be migrant workers to sign up.
To compensate, she added, the recruiters have started concentrating on women from remote villages.
Molla said she tells women in Ethiopia “what is going on” in Lebanon, “and that it’s better to stay in your country, because you still have hopes there. Here there are no hopes.”
Nonetheless, a young woman now staying at the makeshift safehouse said she would like to stay here and support her family back home – if her employers here were to treat her well.
Andarge believes there is hope to change the situation and has already noticed changes in public opinion and awareness. New York-based Human Rights Watch recently conducted a hard-hitting campaign on the plight of migrant domestic workers in Lebanon, and last month the American University of Beirut hosted a conference and roundtable discussion on the issue. Some of the students were appalled at what they heard, she said, and their reaction was a pleasant “surprise.”
“It will be changed,” Andarge said with tears in her eyes. “We just need strong people.”
Work began on the 41 million dollar project in May 2006 with funding from an Indian government concessionary loan. The loan has a 50 percent grant element with repayment period of 25 years.
The loan has an in-built moratorium of five years. Initially priced at 30 million dollars, the figure was updated after the inclusion of a rehabilitation project for warrant officers who were residing on the grounds of the old Flag Staff House. The new sewerage system and the renovation of the residence of the first President of Ghana also added to the cost.
The project which was under the supervision of Shapoorji Pallonji and Co. Limited of India, has had it completion dates changing constantly. It was initially expected to be completed in December 2007.
The building has two phases, the Presidential Offices, which would house the Offices of the President and Vice President, conference halls, banquet halls, waiting rooms, offices and the Presidential Villa, which would be the home of the president.
The offices in the building can house about 200 workers. It also has a spacious car park.
The new presidential complex in Accra to serve as the seat of government and official residence of President of Ghana, has been christened the Golden Jubilee House.
President John Agyekum Kufuor who performed the official commissioning a while ago, attended by a cross section of Ghanaians – ministers and parliamentarians, chiefs and civil servants as well as ordinary folks – announced the new name to spontaneous applause from the gathering.
He was presented with a replica of the key to the new edifice, which he described as the symbol of authority and spirituality of Ghana. It is also a symbol of the friendship between Ghana and India, whose government provided a soft loan and expertise for its construction.
The complex also houses the official residence of Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, whose two children, Sekou and Samia Nkrumah, accompanied President Kufuor to cut the tape and join in the consecration of the place.
In his address President Kufuor lamented the use of the Osu Castle as the seat of government.
“It must not be forgotten that the Osu Castle has not fulfilled and can never provide such a centre because it was physically and historically a purpose built as a slaving out post and indeed in many parts continues to bare the indelible scars and stigma of that inhuman trade of those times.”
He dismissed criticisms that the building of the Golden Jubilee House was ill timed and did not take into consideration the plight of Ghanaians, insisting the building was not at the expense of the needs of society.
“Government has at every stage of this project been sensitive to the financial implications of the venture and also the conditions of life of the society. At no time has government overlooked the suffering and needs of society as critics sought to claim,” he added.
President Kufuor described the offer from the Indian government as “irresistible offer, God sent for Ghana” and hoped relationship between the two countries would move to higher heights”
The Arch bishop of Cape Coast Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson conducted a short consecration ceremony after which dignitaries were sent round the edifice.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights is probing Nigeria’s rights records. Watchdog groups have accused security agencies of excessive use of force and extra judicial killings. The government denies the charge and says it is guided by the rule of law and the protection of individual rights. The rights commission is currently holding it’s 44th session in Abuja. It will also determine to what extent Nigeria has implemented key provisions of the African Charter on Human Rights.
Fred Agbaje is a human rights attorney. He told VOA English to Africa reporter Chinedu Offor the country’s rights records need a major improvement.
“The situation on the ground is not something that calls for joy in the country and I am happy that the commission for human rights is meeting and that they are taking a critical look particularly the issue of gross violation of human rights, the issue of abuse of the rule of law, that is particularly the court orders, extra-judicial killings particularly among the security agents in the country. Also the question of human trafficking is still there”.
He says must take a firm position on Nigeria. ” The Human Rights Commission must drum it loud and clear to the ear of the government of Nigeria that the era of gross violation of the rights of the citizenry is gone and that the rights of the citizen must take a central stage in the administration in this country”.
Agbaje says the Nigeria government must hold its law enforcement agents responsible for any acts of rights abuses against citizens. “The law enforcement agents in this country in most cases and from my own private studies, about 85 percent of cases, law enforcement agents are the ones violating the law themselves”.
JUBA, Sudan (AFP) — Southern Sudan on Monday warned Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak that regional instability could also destabilise his country and urged Cairo to put pressure on Khartoum to move ahead with a three-year-old peace agreement.
“He said Egypt should continue working towards regional peace,” southern Sudan press secretary Ayom Wol quoted the leader of the country’s semi-autonomous south, Salva Kiir, as telling Mubarak at talks in Juba.
“Egypt can also be destabilised by this regional instability. People are trying to help so that the situation does not get out of hand,” Wol added.
Kiir was quoted as referring to chaos following Kenyan elections, rebellion in Ethiopia, meltdown in Somalia, and the activities of a Ugandan rebel group, the Lord’s Resistance Army, in Sudan, Central African Republic and DR Congo.
Implementation of the 2005 peace agreement between north and south Sudan has crossed the half-way mark, but many of its thorniest parts have yet to be enacted ahead of a scheduled referendum in the south on independence or unity.
Kiir cited concern that border areas between north and south have not been demarcated, complicating the results of a key population census conducted in April and likely to complicate national elections scheduled in 2009.
Fighting in the contested oil district of Abyei last May was seen as the biggest threat yet to the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which ended what was Africa’s longest running civil war in which around two million people died.
There are deep-set fears among the international community that a possible arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir for alleged crimes in Darfur could have serious repercussions on implementing the CPA.
Kiir’s office said that Egypt, as one of the international guarantors of the agreement, must put pressure on Khartoum to see that the accord is implemented.
Egypt’s official MENA news agency said Mubarak’s visit was “aimed at cementing stability and unity in Sudan”.
Mubarak stressed the ties of friendship between Egypt and the “African” south, which has testy relations with the Arab-led regime in Khartoum.
“We have so many students (in Egypt) from here and we are going to open a new university,” Mubarak told reporters in an ultra-brief statement.
In Khartoum, he held talks with Beshir, who has been accused on 10 counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur by the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“The best way to find a solution to this problem (the conflict in Darfur) is the Arab and African initiative,” Mubarak told reporters.
Mubarak supports a position advocated by the African Union that Beshir be allowed time to implement a ceasefire in Darfur, where Khartoum has been accused of brutally repressing a five-year uprising.
The African Union and the Arab League have asked the UN Security Council to delay any ICC decision on whether to indict the Sudanese head of state.
The court’s judges have given the prosecution until November 17 to provide additional evidence before they decide whether to issue an arrest warrant.
Sudan is seeking to avert an ICC trial and convince a sceptical West that it is serious about unblocking stalled peace efforts in Darfur.
ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo in July accused the Sudanese leader of personally instructing his forces to annihilate three non-Arab ethnic groups in Darfur, where conflict has been raging since 2003.
MOGADISHU (Xinhua) — Gunmen in the southern Somali town of Baidoa, the base of the transitional Somali parliament have shot dead a senior Somali government official, local media reports said Sunday.
Hussein Runow Sheik, second deputy Governor of the southern Bay region, was killed by three men armed with pistols, as the Governor was on his way back to his home in Baidoa, 245 km south west of Mogadishu, the local Shabelle radio reported.
Somali government security forces, who have reportedly arrived at the scene minutes after the gunmen escaped, cordoned off the area and started house-to-house searches for the men.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the killing of the official but Islamist insurgent fighters have been waging deadly guerilla attacks on Somali government officials and security forces as well as Ethiopian troops backing it.
Baidoa, where the transitional Somali Parliament is based has been relatively stable but recently insurgent fighters have been carrying out attacks on targets of Somali government forces and Ethiopian military forces.
Insurgent fighters have killed numerous Somali government officials since the insurgency against the internationally recognized government began in early 2007, shortly after allied Ethiopian and Somali government forces toppled an Islamist administration that ruled much of south-central Somalia for the latter half of 2006.
The Islamist administrators were accused by Somali and Ethiopian governments of challenging the authority of the national institutions and of threatening the national security of Ethiopia.
A ceasefire agreement between a main faction of the opposition of the opposition Alliance for the Reliberation of Somalia (ARS) and Somali government forces was supposed to come into effective on Nov. 5.
But a number of other opposition factions including the hard line Al-shabaab Islamist movement and a breakaway group of the ARS rejected the agreement and vowed to continue fighting until an Islamic state is established in Somalia.
MUMBAI, INDIA – Infrastructure development firm C&C Constructions of India plans to diversify into construction of power transmission towers as a part of its future growth plan.
The company is a major player in road-building and water pipelines with over Rs 2,100 crore worth of projects under execution at present.
“Building power transmission towers will be another vertical in the infrastructure segment for us. It is a high-growth segment and we have big plans here,” C&C Constructions Chairman G S Johar told PTI here.
The company has already entered the segment in a small way by bidding for around half-a-dozen projects, Johar said.
Another new area for the company would be building parking lots in metros and “we will bid for these projects on a BoT basis”, he said.
C&C is eyeing a Rs 1,500-crore turnover by FY’10. “Our turnover in FY’08 (June 30, 2008) was Rs 538 crore. We hope to touch Rs 850 crore in June 2009 and Rs 1,500 crore in FY’10,” Johar said.
The company has already built 600 kilometres of roads in Afghanistan and a by-pass in Assam. It has also built runways at Amritsar and Port Blair airports.
“We have now bid for constructing the Afghanistan Parliament building, the project cost of which is around USD 130-million,” Johar said, adding “the Indian Government has cleared our proposal”.
This will be built in a joint venture with Hyderabad- based BSCPL Infrastructure Ltd, he said.
Apart from the Afghan Parliament, C&C has on hand a dedicated freight corridor project in Bihar worth Rs 800 crore and a USD 100 million road-building project in Ethiopia. “We have eight projects under execution in Bihar, two in Himachal Pradesh and three in Punjab,” Johar said.
The company will be completing 40 per cent of its business in the next one year. “Besides, we have Rs 1,200 crore of orders in the pipeline,” he said.
C&C recently won a Rs 963 crore order for improvement and upgradation of state highway roads from the Bihar Government. These orders have to be executed over an average period of 33-months and have been funded by the Asian Development Bank, Johar said.
Work began on the 41 million dollar project in May 2006 with funding from an Indian government concessionary loan. The loan has a 50 percent grant element with repayment period of 25 years.