When Dipendra Uprety emigrated to Lebanon to support his family back home in Nepal, he never imagined that he would end up in debt, undocumented, enslaved and imprisoned. Yet, that is exactly what happened to him. His experience in prison, where he met other mostly female victims who worked as maids and had been abused by their sponsors, led Dipendra to fight on their behalf. Together with Priya Subedi, herself a victim, they set up 'This is Lebanon', a registered charity that exposes kafala abusers and advocates on behalf of victims.
Dipendra is just one of the many migrant workers who fall victim to the kafala system, the migrant sponsorship process that operates in Lebanon, the Gulf and other Arab countries. Kafala has been described as exploitative, abusive, racist and de facto modern slavery. Sponsors are responsible for paying visa and residency fees on behalf of the sponsored worker, who cannot work for another employer without the permission of their sponsor. This leads to systematic and pervasive abuse: from the mass confiscation of passports, to the withholding of salaries to sexual abuse and even death.
Dipendra is now living in Canada and uses his new-found freedom to fight for those still trapped in the system.
