BEIRUT, DECEMBER 7, 2012: Timed to coincide with International Human Rights Day on December 10, AltCity and Migrant Workers’ Task Force (MWTF) are holding a “Human Rights Week” December 16-22, 2012. During this week, AltCity and MWTF are demanding human rights for migrant workers in particular. The 200,000 migrant workers in Lebanon continue to be denied their inalienable fundamental rights including freedom of movement, just conditions of work, the right to marry and to found a family, and the right to legal recognition, and freedom from inhuman or degrading treatment.
“The working conditions of migrant workers in Lebanon is a national disgrace,” said May Habib, a volunteer with MWTF. “Four countries have already banned their nationals from working in Lebanon due to lack of legal protection and chronic human rights abuses.”
To highlight the problems facing migrant workers, AltCity and MWTF are organizing a “Community Day” on December 16th. Participants in Community Day are being encouraged to bring a dish to eat and a friend to join in our effort to promote migrant workers’ rights.
During Community Day, an exhibition of photo stories created by migrant workers plus a series of infographics visualizing migrant workers’ rights and hardships will be launched at AltCity:
- Ann Megalla, a multimedia producer and anthropologist, is empowering 16 migrant workers to tell their stories through photo essays conveying their daily lives. The photo exhibition entitled “Lens on Life” is the result of these workshops.
- Joumana Ibrahim, a graphic designer specializing in information design, is showing 18 local graphic designers how to transform research on migrant workers’ rights into striking infographics suitable for publication. The infographic exhibition entitled “Visualizing Migrant Rights” is the result of these workshops.
The infographics are available to any journalists interested in their publication.
According to Dima Saber, Co-founder of AltCity, “Everyone in Lebanon has human rights. Through photo essays, infographics, and positive social interactions we are working toward justice for migrant workers in Lebanon.”
The workshops, Community Day, and the exhibition is part of AltCity’s “Media for Human Rights” program that is supported by the Netherlands Embassy in Lebanon.
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