2019 Capacity Building Program for Promoting the Rights of Migrant Workers in the MENA and Asia – Beirut

The Diplomacy Training Program (DTP) in partnership with Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA) held a regional workshop in Beirut on human rights advocacy and migrant workers in the Middle East. This training program took place over 5 days in Lebanon from 9-13 April 2019 and was hosted by the Cross Regional Center for Refugees and Migrants (CCRM).

The workshop brought together 27 participants the majority of whom were NGOs, trade unions, lawyers’ networks, faith-based groups, and migrant community representatives. The participants came from Bahrain, Egypt, Qatar, UAE, Oman, Jordan, Libya, Lebanon, Morocco and Turkey.

The participants shared concerns about the treatment of migrant workers, and the harms they experience at the hands of their employers and officials, and at wider prejudice against migrants that underpins their vulnerability to exploitation. The training program built on the knowledge and skills of the participants to protect and promote the human rights of migrant workers. It enabled participants to more effectively use internationally agreed standards and mechanisms in their advocacy for the human rights of migrant workers in the Middle East. The program also provided a valuable forum for the sharing of knowledge and skills, and for the building of support networks and collaboration between countries of origin and destination.