Grim Picture of Life for Mauritius Women in Lebanon

Brigette Vallot, a young Mauritian lady who has worked for some 10 years as a domestic servant in Lebanon and who returned to Mauritius at the end of December, has appealed to the government to help Mauritian women who are presently in jail in Lebanon.

Meeting journalists on Monday at the Human Rights Center in the capital Port Louis, Vallot explained that she came back to Mauritius as she was suffering from breast cancer and could not get herself cured there as one chemotherapy session in Lebanon costs US$500.

She gave a very pathetic description of the suffering of young Mauritian women in Lebanon and indicated that many have resorted to prostitution to survive. The passport and other documents of all those young ladies were taken away by their employers immediately as they arrive, she stated.

If the girls cannot adapt to their work conditions, they lose their jobs. Prior to getting back their papers, they are compelled to refund some 1500 to 3000 US Dollars to their employers as it is the employers who have paid their plane tickets to Lebanon. Most of the girls find it very difficult to find a second job and the majority end up in brothels. But she indicated that some Mauritian girls are presently in jail for theft or for illegal stay in that country.

Vallot, who herself was in prison in Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, for three months for having forgotten her pass at home, said that she had to sleep on a piece of jute bag in the prison cell and that very little food was served.

Vallot stated that it was impossible to know the exact number of Mauritian girls in Lebanese jails as the police in Beirut refused to release the figures to her. She observed that she had contacted officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here, but was told that they were not even aware of the problem. The ministry has however promised to contact the Consul General of Mauritius in Lebanon to inquire.

Vallot said she managed to return to Mauritius when a Catholic mission paid her plane ticket, but she is making an urgent appeal to the Prime Minister to help get the imprisoned girls back to Mauritius. Mauritian girls to think twice before going to work in that country, she warned.

Source African Press Agency

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