Human Rights Committee

Information received from Lebanon on follow-up to the concluding observations on its third periodic report *

[Date received: 15 April 2020]

Follow-up report regarding the implementation by Lebanon of the recommendations made by the Human Rights Committee following its consideration, in 2018, of the country’s third periodic report regarding the fulfilment of obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

Beirut, 6 April 2020

1.Lebanon presented its third periodic report regarding the fulfilment of its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on 15 and 16 March 2018 during the course of the 122nd session of the Human Rights Committee, which took place in Geneva from 12 March to 6 April 2018.

2.Lebanon subsequently received the concluding observations issued by the Human Rights Committee in document CCPR/C/LBN/CO/3, dated 9 May 2018.

3.In accordance with paragraph 50 of the concluding observation, Lebanon has prepared the present follow-up report, which includes information on the progress made to date regarding the implementation of the recommendations made by the Human Rights Committee in paragraphs 20 (violence against women, including domestic and sexual violence), 38 (refugees and asylum seekers) and 40 (migrant domestic workers).

4.The present follow-up report is being submitted in accordance with rule 71 (5) of the Human Rights Committee’s rules of procedure.

5.The report was drafted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants on the basis of information regarding the implementation of the recommendations contained in paragraphs 20, 38 and 40 supplied by:

Ministry of Justice

Ministry of Labour

Ministry of Public Health

Ministry of Social Affairs

Ministry of National Defence

Ministry of the Interior and Municipalities (Directorate General of Internal Security Forces)

Ministry of the Interior and Municipalities (General Security Directorate)

National Commission for Lebanese Women

Paragraph 20 regarding violence against women, including domestic and sexual violence

(a)Ensure the criminalization of domestic violence, the explicit criminalization of marital rape and sexual harassment and the effective implementation of such legislation in practice

6.Regarding the criminalization of sexual violence: Act No. 293 of 2014 on the protection of women and other family members from domestic violence, which was enacted in 2014, contains a clear definition of this form of violence.

7.A little over two years after the enactment of Act No. 293 of 2014, with a view to closing one or two loopholes that had emerged during its implementation, the Ministry of Justice, in cooperation with the National Commission for Lebanese Women and the non-governmental organization (NGO) “Stop Violence and Exploitation”, submitted a project to amend certain articles of the Act.

8.A number of Deputies adopted the project, which became a bill and was discussed over a number of sittings by a subcommittee deriving from the joint committees of the Chamber of Deputies. Competent ministries and anti-domestic violence organizations took part in the talks, including the Ministry of Justice and the National Commission for Lebanese Women.

9.The discussions led to the approval of various proposed amendments, including the following:

Amending the definition of sexual violence, as follows: “Any act, omission or threat thereof which is committed by a member of a family against one or more other members – as per the definition of family – that occurs during or as a consequence of married life and that results in death or physical, psychological, sexual or economic injury.” The purpose of this amendment was to broaden the concept of married life for both spouses to cover the period after the dissolution of the marital bond;

Adding a paragraph that envisages criminal penalties for moral or economic harm caused as a result of domestic violence;

Allowing minors to submit a request to obtain a protection order without their guardian;

Giving Summary Affairs Judges the power to appeal directly to the law enforcement authorities to enforce a protection order.

10.The amendments were approved by the subcommittee deriving from the joint committees but are still subject to change during discussions of the joint committees themselves or during the plenary sitting of the Chamber of Deputies.

11.Regarding the criminalization of marital rape: Article 3 of Act No. 293 of 2014 on the protection of women and other family members from domestic violence reads: “The penalties for domestic violence are as follows:

7 (a)Anyone who, in order to engage in their marital right to intercourse, or by reason thereof, strikes or abuses their spouse shall be liable to one of the penalties set forth in articles 554 to 559 of the Criminal Code. In the case of a repeat offence, the penalty shall be increased in accordance with article 257 of the Criminal Code;

7 (b)Anyone who, in order to engage in their marital right to intercourse, or by reason thereof, threatens their spouse shall be liable to one of the penalties set forth in articles 573 to 578 of the Criminal Code. In the case of a repeat offence, the penalty shall be increased in accordance with article 257 of the Criminal Code.”

12.Regarding the criminalization of sexual harassment: On 26 September 2019, the Chamber of Deputies’ committee for women and children proposed a law to penalize the crime of sexual harassment, which had been submitted by the Ministry for Women on 8 March 2017. The proposal was referred for perusal to the parliamentary committee on administration and justice. It should be noted that this proposal, if it is adopted, will introduce severe penalties for sexual harassment in the workplace.

(b)Amend articles 505 and 518 of the Criminal Code to ensure that perpetrators of rape incur criminal responsibility without exception and regardless of the age of the victim

13.On 18 May 2018, a parliamentary Deputy made a proposal for a law to amend article 505 regarding the offence of sexual intercourse with a minor and to revoke article 518 regarding the offence of seducing a girl with promise of marriage and taking her virginity. The proposal was adopted by the National Commission for Lebanese Women.

14.Since then, efforts have continued to be made to refer the proposal for perusal by parliamentary committees so that it can be discussed and voted on by the plenary sitting of the Chamber of Deputies.

15.In the same context, during the course of discussions within parliamentary committees about revoking article 522 of the Criminal Code, representatives of the Ministry of Justice requested the revocation of the aforementioned articles 505 and 518. That request was met with a partial response on the part of Deputies.

16.Channels for discussion regarding the possibility of revoking articles 505 and 518 currently remain open and are being followed up and pursued by competent ministries and other bodies. These include the Ministry of Justice and the National Commission for Lebanese Women, with support from Lebanese civil society organizations that operate in the field of human rights in general and the rights of women in particular.

(c)Strengthen preventive measures, including awareness-raising campaigns to combat violence against women, systematically inform women of their rights and encourage the reporting of such violence to law enforcement authorities

17.Over recent years – in parallel with the adoption and implementation of Act No. 293 of 2014 on the protection of women and other family members from domestic violence – efforts to strengthen protective measures have also increased. This has involved widescale awareness-raising campaigns across media and social media intended to combat violence in all its forms, particularly domestic violence, violence against women and gender-based violence.

18.Act No. 293 of 2014 includes provision for a mechanism to report violence as it occurs. Once reported, an immediate investigation is launched by the competent judicial authority while also ensuring protection for the victim. This mechanism has also been the subject of widescale awareness-raising campaigns to make victims of domestic violence aware of its existence and explain how they can access it. The purpose is to ensure that perpetrators of violence receive just punishment commensurate with the crime committed.

19.In parallel with efforts being made by the National Commission for Lebanese Women, in 2018 the Ministry of the Interior and Municipalities (Directorate General of Internal Security Forces) set up the 1745 hotline to receive complaints from victims of domestic violence. A high-profile media campaign has also been run to inform people of the existence of the hotline and to encourage them to use it.

20.The Ministry of the Interior and Municipalities (Directorate General of Internal Security Forces) has also produced two short films to encourage women to report any domestic violence they might have suffered and to highlight their right to protection.

21.In addition, the Ministry of the Interior and Municipalities (Directorate General of Internal Security Forces) has launched campaigns on sexual harassment, to which end it has set up special stands in all areas of the country.

22.For its part, the National Commission for Lebanese Women has run two awareness-raising campaigns of its own using text messages which, in cooperation with the Ministry of Communications, were sent to the mobile phones of millions of subscribers of both sexes. They were the campaign “call the 1745 hotline if you are a victim or witness of domestic violence” and the campaign “inform the authorities on the 1745 hotline if you are a victim or witness of domestic violence”.

23.The National Commission for Lebanese Women also participated in a widescale social media campaign intended to combat violence against women and girls. The campaign lasted 16 days and was called “Violence is unacceptable, protection is your right”.

24.The National Commission for Lebanese Women has run a media and billboard campaign to make the public aware of the importance of criminalizing sexual harassment, while awaiting the enactment of a law on that subject.

25.On 4 September 2019, the Ministry of Justice approved a joint initiative regarding access to legal aid for victims of violence. The initiative involves the Beirut Bar Association and the Northern Bar Association as well as the United Nations Development Programme and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and it received support from the Government of Canada.

26.The Ministry of Justice is relying on this joint initiative to provide different kinds of legal-aid services in civil, criminal and administrative cases in order to benefit a number of categories of persons including female victims of violence. The initiative is expected to focus on three separate activities in parallel:

Developing a shared view of legal aid so as to establish a plan of action and a strategy adapted to the situation in Lebanon. This covers a wide range of services including awareness of legal rights; information and advice; alternative means of conflict resolution such as negotiation, mediation, etc.; legal representation; and the development of oversight and evaluation mechanisms in order to guarantee service quality;

Launching pilot projects at the local level with a view to meeting the legal needs of the most disadvantaged groups, including female victims of violence, whether they be Lebanese, stateless or foreigners, and promoting access to justice through the provision of quality legal aid services free of charge; to this end, legal aid offices will also be set up in remote areas;

Promoting legal aid services for juveniles by building the capacity of Ministry of Justice social workers and drawing up a list of lawyers who specialize in juvenile cases and of juvenile detention facilities.

27.The national strategy to combat violence against women was launched on 8 February 2019, developed by the Office of the Minister for the Economic Empowerment of Women and Young Persons in cooperation with the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia and the United Nations Population Fund. Representatives from competent ministries also took part, such as the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of the Interior and Municipalities as well as other government bodies such as the National Commission for Lebanese Women not to mention Lebanese civil society organizations active in the field of human and women’s rights.

28.The launch of the national strategy was the result of a series of preparatory meetings at the national level intended to “estimate the cost of violence against women in Lebanon”. During the encounters, the outcomes of a fieldwork report – including discussions between representatives of ministries, institutions and civil society bodies – were reviewed in order to better identify the services available to victims of violence, consider the availability of necessary data, define the geographical scope of action to be taken and the methodology, and identify operational plans and types of violence. The aim of this was to assess the economic cost of such violence.

(d)Ensure that law enforcement officers, the judiciary and other relevant stakeholders receive appropriate training in how to detect and deal properly with cases of violence against women

29.Workers in the public and private sectors who are in the front line in dealing with victims of violence have been undergoing intense and ongoing training on the enforcement of Act No. 293 of 2014 on the protection of women and other family members from domestic violence.

30.Most of the training courses were organized as a result of cooperation between ministries, government bodies that work against violence, United Nations agencies and other international organizations and NGOs, and civil society organizations active in the area of combatting violence of all kinds.

31.The Ministry of Social Affairs has given its social workers intensive training on how to implement Act No. 293 of 2014. The Ministry is currently in the process of preparing a set of tools to monitor and address cases of gender-based violence and developing a national referral system in that regard.

32.As part of its national plan for the protection of women and children, which it developed in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Ministry of Social Affairs has provided a range of specialized services for girls and women who have been rescued from violence. The services focus on psychosocial support, primary health care, economic and social empowerment, case management and raising awareness about rights.

33.The Ministry of Justice collaborated with the National Commission for Lebanese Women when the latter organized workshops for judges, particularly Summary Affairs Judges, on the enforcement of Act No. 293 of 2014. The Ministry of Justice is also seeking to provide the resources necessary to run its own workshops on the implementation of the Act for judges and forensic doctors.

34.For its part, the Ministry of Public Health is providing training to its medical staff on how to detect cases of violence against women and to deal with them in an appropriate manner. The Ministry has organized a number of training courses on this subject, which have been provided to medical personnel in the Ministry’s own network of primary health care centres, which number 239 and are distributed throughout Lebanon.

35.On 3 July 2018, the Ministry of the Interior and Municipalities (Directorate General of Internal Security Forces) – as the main player on the frontline in the enforcement of Act No. 293 of 2014 – issued a public memorandum on the rules of interaction and engagement to be followed by security personnel who follow up on complaints from victims of domestic violence. The memorandum also highlighted the importance of penalizing any abuse of power on the part of security personnel, who are liable to be referred before a disciplinary board.

36.The Ministry of the Interior and Municipalities (Directorate General of Internal Security Forces), in collaboration with civil society groups and organizations including “Abaad” and “Stop Violence and Exploitation”, organizes intensive training courses for security personnel on how to follow up on cases of violence and protect victims of violence, particularly women.

37.In addition, the Ministry of the Interior and Municipalities (Directorate General of Internal Security Forces), works constantly, within the means available, to consolidate its specialized units which take legal action, monitor and collect relevant data in regard of crimes arising from situations of violence.

38.Activities undertaken by the Ministry of National Defence and the Lebanese Army have included training courses on human trafficking and gender-based violence for officers with investigative duties. The courses were run under the supervision of trainers from United Nations organizations, including UNHCR, as Lebanese army chiefs were keen that their officers should be trained in how to deal correctly with complaints of domestic violence.

39.One of the functions of the Government Commissioner at the Military Court, who is an ordinary civilian judge, is to receive complaints of domestic violence. A committee has been constituted made up of specialized training officers, a team from the NGO “Stop Violence and Exploitation”, and one of the Government Commissioner’s own assistants, to provide training to officers of the military judicial police who undertake investigations into cases of domestic violence where the accused person is a member of the military.

(e)Ensure that data on violence against women is collected and that all cases of violence against women are promptly and thoroughly investigated, that perpetrators are prosecuted and, if convicted, punished with appropriate sanctions and that victims have access to protection and to effective remedies

40.As regards the collection of data in cases of violence against women, the Ministry of Justice is currently working, within available means, to develop a system to automate the activity of courts and court registrars. The purpose of the system, which is leading to progressive improvements, is to enable precise numbers to be extracted in real time regarding sentences that courts have handed down, or are handing down, in cases of violence of all kinds, including violence against women.

41.Action is taken to ensure prompt and thorough investigations of cases of violence against women, the prosecution of perpetrators and, if convicted, their punishment with appropriate sanctions, and to ensure that victims have access to protection and effective remedies. In fact, the judicial system in Lebanon tirelessly investigates, prosecutes and castigates all persons responsible for violence, particularly violence against women. This takes place via both the criminal and the civil courts and, in particular, the summary affairs courts, which do not hesitate to issue protection orders in such cases, whenever a situation so requires.

42.In the Military Court, officers of the military judicial police who undertake investigations into cases of domestic violence undertake to launch immediate inquiries into cases of violence against female military personnel, under the supervision of the Office of the Military Prosecutor, with the aim of bringing perpetrators to justice and giving victims the protection they require, in accordance with applicable domestic laws and regulations.

Paragraph 38 regarding refugees and asylum seekers

(a)Ensure that the non-refoulement principle is strictly adhered to in practice, that all asylum seekers are protected against pushbacks at the border and that they have access to refugee status determination procedures

43.Since the outbreak of the conflict in Syria in 2011, Lebanon has found itself on the frontline as a refuge for displaced persons. They have entered national territory in numbers so large as to overwhelm the country’s humble capacities and to make Lebanon the world leader in terms of number of refugees with respect to inhabitants.

44.Although Lebanon is not a party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, it has not failed in its humanitarian duty to host displaced persons and provide them with the assistance they need, with support from the international community and United Nations organizations. This has redoubled pressures at all levels and in all areas and, year after year, has made the economic, financial, social, political, environmental and security situation more and more difficult.

45.The Lebanese judicial and administrative authorities responsible for issues regarding displaced persons are scrupulous in their respect for the principle of non-refoulement.

46.Those authorities only ever seek to make displaced persons return to their country of origin in a manner that is secure and that remains consistent with the obligations of Lebanon under the principles of international humanitarian law and of the human rights treaties to which it is a party.

47.No one can be deported from Lebanon if the slightest doubt exists that they might be subjected to torture in their own country. This is consistent with the country’s commitments under the provisions of human rights treaties, including article 3 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to which Lebanon acceded in the year 2000.

48.All asylum seekers can benefit from procedures to determine refugee status. Such determination is made using UNHCR mechanisms and not domestic legislation because there are no national laws specifically covering asylum.

49.Lebanese Army units deployed along the border ensure that displaced persons are able to enter the country safely. The same units, together with other agencies, implement a series of vital security measures in the vicinity of camps and/or communities of displaced persons, in order to prevent any activities that might undermine security and to protect the lives of persons living there.

(b)Bring its legislation and practices relating to the detention of asylum seekers and refugees into compliance with article 9 of the Covenant, taking into account the Committee’s general comment No. 35 (particularly para. 18);

(c)Provide for appeal procedures against decisions regarding detention and deportation

50.Under applicable Lebanese laws and regulations, all administrative decisions are subject to review at the request of the party concerned.

(d)Ensure the effective protection of refugees against forced evictions;

(e)Ensure that curfews, if applied, are imposed only as a short-term and area-specific exceptional measure and are lawful and strictly justified under the Covenant, including under articles 9, 12 and 17

51.Procedures for the imposition of curfews are exceptional and limited in time and space. They were adopted by some municipalities that hosted large numbers of refugees and were applied against the latter as a result of certain local security and social conditions, as evaluated by each municipality. In any case, such procedures were abandoned after a short period.

(f)Expand the residency fee waiver to include refugees not currently covered

52.On 10 February 2017, the Minister of the Interior and Municipalities issued a decree exempting Syrian refugees who had registered with UNHCR before 1 January 2015 and were in possession of a UNHCR registration card from the residency fee levied by the Directorate General of State Security. This exemption does not include Syrians who entered Lebanon during the same period searching for work, and who therefore fall into the category of migrant workers.

Paragraph 40 regarding migrant domestic workers

The State party should expand labour law protection to domestic workers; provide access to effective legal remedies for protection of domestic migrant workers’ rights without fear of reprisal or deportation; abolish the sponsorship (kafala) system and reform recruitment practices with a view to ensuring respect for the rights of domestic workers and protection against exploitation and abuse; and step up measures aimed at raising awareness about domestic migrant workers’ rights and existing avenues for their protection

53.Migrant workers in Lebanon make up an important part of the labour force. They include the category of migrant domestic workers, the majority of whom are women.

54.The regulation of the migrant workforce presents many human rights-related challenges and has, therefore, been a matter of priority concern for successive Lebanese governments over past years. In fact, succeeding administrations have sought to improve legislation, regulations and policies in order to protect the rights of migrant workers and to eradicate the discrimination, violations and abuses to which they can be subjected while residing and working in Lebanon.

55.On the legislative front, Anti-Human Trafficking Act No. 164 of 2011, which was issued on 24 August 2011, represents a qualitative leap in the way Lebanon addresses and criminalizes the phenomenon of human trafficking and in its system of protection and assistance for victims. The Act is based on relevant international instruments, particularly the Palermo Protocols, which aim to promote legislative and other measures with a view to criminalizing human trafficking.

56.The enforcement of Act No. 164 of 2011 is the responsibility of the Ministry of the Interior and Municipalities (General Security Directorate) – as regards regulating the entry and residency of migrant workers in Lebanon – and of the Ministry of the Interior and Municipalities (Directorate General of Internal Security Forces) via the judicial police, the bureau for human trafficking and the vice squad. In this context, the Directorate General of Internal Security Forces is continuing to take steps to enable migrant workers, including female domestic workers, to access justice just as it is acting to protect them from all forms of exploitation and violence, without discrimination.

57.For its part, the Ministry of Labour has completed work on a bill to regulate decent working conditions for domestic workers. The bill is consistent with Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189) of the International Labour Organization (ILO), which Lebanon voted in favour of during the 100th session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva, and with Domestic Workers Recommendation, 2011 (No. 201). On 14 March 2014, the bill was referred for approval to the Council of Ministers.

58.Working in collaboration with ILO and with civil society organizations that concern themselves with protecting the rights of migrant domestic workers, the Ministry of Labour has recently drafted an amendment to the unified contract of employment for domestic workers. The contract has been in force since 2009 and protects the rights of both employers and workers by striking a balance between the duties and rights of each side

59.At the same time, the Minister of Labour periodically issues decrees regulating the foreign workforce, including workers in domestic employment. Of these, the most significant was Decree No. 168/1 of 27 November 2015 regarding the regulation of recruitment bureaus for domestic workers. Under the Decree, owners of recruitment bureaus are forbidden from advertising their services in local media and they are prohibited from making migrant workers pay monetary or non-monetary recompense in return for finding them employment in domestic service.

60.As concerns effective legal remedies, in the event of a dispute between domestic workers and their employers, or any form of ill-treatment by the employer such as non-payment of wages or failure to implement the terms of the unified employment contract, or ill-treatment by the owners of recruitment bureaus, domestic workers may – either directly, or through their embassy, or via a civil society organization – submit a complaint to the Ministry of Labour with a view to reaching an amicable settlement of the dispute.

61.If an amicable settlement cannot be reached, the injured party, be it the worker or the employer, may appeal to the competent courts, which include the labour arbitration councils, where cases are brought on the basis of the governorate involved. Over past years, a number of judicial rulings have been handed down concerning guarantees and protection for the rights of migrant workers such as compensation for unemployment and damages and the imposition of the obligation to pay due wages.

62.In a related context, the Ministry of Labour has activated its hotline service to take complaints from migrant workers, which are received directly by a full-time official at the Ministry, without any intermediary. The complaints are then dealt with by the competent authorities.

63.As concerns the reform of recruitment practices, the Ministry of Labour periodically coordinates with the syndicate representing owners of recruitment bureaus for domestic workers and conducts workshops in order to raise their awareness vis-à-vis the rights of workers including migrant workers, the concept of work in domestic service and fair recruitment methods. Such workshops have been proved to have a real impact on the running of recruitment bureaus, and the Ministry of Labour is currently seeking to organize more of them in other regions of Lebanon, in coordination with ILO.

64.In the same context, the Ministry of Labour continues to take deterrent measures against employment bureaus that are found to be exploiting migrant workers. Ministerial inspectors make regular field visits to bureaus and sanction any violations by suspending their activities for a certain period, placing them on the Ministry of Labour’s blacklist or revoking their licences.

65.In order to raise migrant workers’ own awareness about their rights and duties, in 2012 the national steering committee for monitoring migrant workers developed a guide, which has been translated into the languages of the countries of origin of workers in Lebanon, in cooperation with ILO.

66.Since the unified employment contract signed by the employer and the migrant worker before a notary public is written in Arabic, the Ministry of Labour has been at pains to translate it into the languages of the countries of origin of workers in Lebanon. It has also provided the Council of Notaries Public with copies of the aforementioned guide in all the languages into which it has been translated. In this way, the notary can provide a copy to the migrant worker concerned in his or her native language, and explain its contents, before the unified employment contract is signed.

67.Since some migrant workers are not proficient in reading and writing even in their native language, the Ministry of Labour is currently working on a pilot project to develop a video explaining the terms of the unified employment contract in the languages of the countries of origin of workers in Lebanon.

68.For its part, the Ministry of Social Affairs also seeks to protect the rights of migrant workers with health services, social protection and prevention programmes. These are intended for all marginalized groups, including migrant domestic workers.

69.The Ministry of Social Affairs continues to provide quasi-free medical consultations and medicines in its development service centres and via projects run jointly with civil society groups and organizations. To a large degree, these initiatives also benefit migrant domestic workers.

70.The Ministry of Social Affairs also has contracts with shelters belonging to civil society groups, which take in and care for women in difficult social situations, including migrant domestic workers who are victims of violence and exploitation.

71.The Ministry of Social Affairs has produced a “social charter” that underscores the need to regulate the phenomenon of migrant labour in Lebanon and to address all forms of discrimination against migrant workers, particularly against domestic workers.

72.Moreover, the Ministry of Social Affairs’ national strategy for social development dedicates a separate paragraph to the question of migrant domestic workers. It highlights the need to improve working conditions to make them fairer and more secure, combat inequality in employment and provide equal job opportunities on the basis of capacities and qualifications, without discrimination.

73.Activities and programmes run by the Ministry of Social Affairs, which are also aimed at migrant domestic workers, include a media campaign about abolishing the sponsorship (kafala) system for migrant domestic workers, as well as awareness-raising seminars in different parts of Lebanon for both employers and domestic workers on the rights and duties of domestic workers.

74.The Ministry of Social Affairs has begun drafting a regulatory decree on the establishment of a special account to be called the “victims of human trafficking assistance account”, which will help to ensure that migrant domestic workers can benefit from care and services if they fall victim to human trafficking offences.

75.It should be noted that the activities detailed above are monitored by the national steering committee, which was established by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers under Decree No. 40 of 2007 and was tasked with preparing and implementing projects aimed at promoting and protecting migrant domestic workers. The committee brings together representatives of ministries and other competent bodies, including those who contributed to the preparation of the present report. It also cooperates with civil society organizations to follow up on complaints submitted by migrant domestic workers, conducts investigations and guarantees the provision of certain basic necessities.