In Lebanon, everyone appears to be scrambling for safety as best they can. However, among those left behind are migrant domestic workers, especially those from Africa.
Migrant workers of African origin say they have found it difficult to access emergency shelters after their Lebanese employers abandoned them in the middle of a worsening conflict zone.
The Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, have triggered a widening regional conflict, including Israeli airstrikes and a ground offensive in Lebanon.
The Lebanese government estimates that the current violence has displaced over 1.2 million Lebanese nationals. There are, however, no reliable figures on how many foreigners might be affected by the ongoing crisis.
"These people do not care about us. To them, we are like working machines. My friends were denied entry at shelters because they are not Lebanese," said Regina Blessing Kyalo, a Kenyan domestic worker who came to Lebanon in 2023.
"We are stuck. There is no way out," she told DW.
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Mariatu Tholley, a Sierra Leonean migrant living in Beirut, told DW that she has been having sleepless nights. "They are bombing everywhere at night. This country is not safe for us for now," she said, adding that she had nowhere to go.
Lebanese authorities have recently faced repeated accusations of prioritizing the safety of their own citizens and are accused of discriminating against foreigners.
UN officials say that most shelters in Lebanon for........