Conflict continues to conquer the Middle East, with a new conflict arising in southern Lebanon, with continual tensions between Hezbollah and Israel. After the exchanging of missile fire, pagers explosions, and the bombardment of missiles in Lebanon, the people are feeling the worst effects of the political disagreements. Some buildings are left destroyed by airstrikes, leaving the people without a home, in desperate need for food, shelter, and safety. One group of people that I have been caught in the middle of this conflict: the African migrants. These migrants are a part of the Kafala labor system, which involves binding migrant workers to a specific employer, which exists in many Arab countries in the Middle East. In addition, the employers and agents have the ability to withhold migrants passports, making it impossible for them to leave.
Often when we as an audience view a conflict, the victimized citizens are thought of first, the first to receive humanitarian aid, refugee status, etc.. While all citizens that have been detrimentally affected by conflict deserve all humanitarian aid possible, the forgotten population are the migrants, and in this circumstance, the African migrants that are trapped within the Kafala labor system. Another country in the Middle East that has famously utilized the Kafala labor system was Qatar during its building of almost a dozen soccer/football fields. Within the article, there Is even a quote given from a Sierra Leonean migrant that has been caught in the middle of the violent atmosphere; “I came here to work to take care of my family, my kids, but since this war, I don’t have a job. Because of the war, there are no jobs everywhere.” Additionally, because of the Kafala system, this migrant isn’t able to leave the country, as her passport is within the possession of her sponsor.
This is an issue between Lebanon and Sierra Leone, but this is not just an issue that has impacted these two singular countries, but others currently and in the past. Because of the current conflict on going in the Middle East, and in Lebanon, there are not just Sierra Leonean migrants that are a part of the Kalfa system, but all throughout the world. Yet, with political instability in many of these African countries and the legal/normalized Kalafa system, there most likely won’t be much intervention by the countries involved. Additionally, improvements of these conditions may be able to improve with the help of foreign intervention, but if there is a lack of national interest, change might not occur. National interest is how a state Acts in their own bounds of the international system and when it serves the purpose of gaining or maintaining power. One’s own national interest directly affects the decisions made within its foreign policy. More powerful/influential states base most/the enteritis of their foreign policy based on whether something serves in their own national interest.