Loriefe (Fe) Durato was employed as a domestic worker in the home of Bassam Abdel Hadi and Reem Yacoub Abdel Hadi from 1 October 2016 to 13 August 2018, after which she fled to the Embassy of the Philippines. The Abdel Hadis own the Crystal One Spa in the four-star Monroe Hotel in downtown Beirut. In total, the Abdel Hadis owe Fe $2,000. For two years they neglected to renew her work and residence permit, which meant she could have been imprisoned at any time.





Fe contacted This Is Lebanon via Facebook in April 2019 to seek help, as she had been sent home to the Philippines with almost 6 months of unpaid salary. Three months’ worth of this had been paid to the agent, something which was declared illegal by the Ministry of Labour in 2007.





Fe was afraid, because 10 other Filipinos who had previously worked at the spa were imprisoned for 3 months. She suspected that their imprisonment was because the Abdel Hadis hadn’t renewed their work permits either, and she didn’t want to end up in prison like them.





Fe told This Is Lebanon that the Abdel Hadis often didn’t have cash, and that she herself paid for deliveries that they had ordered. The Abdel Hadis still owe Fe 10,000 LL ($7) for manoushes (a traditional Lebanese dough-based food, similar to pizza) which she’d paid for because the Abdel Hadis had no money to pay the delivery man.





Fe faced other difficulties whilst working for the Abdel Hadis. Shortly before fleeing to the embassy, Fe alleges that she found that $200 had been taken from her closet by Bassam Abdel Hadi. It had been hidden underneath her clothes. After that, she put a lock on her closet. Reem Abdel Hadi also did not provide all the personal items, such as clothing and hygiene products, she was required to under the terms of the domestic worker’s contract.





This Is Lebanon contacted Bassam Abdel Hadi via WhatsApp, requesting that he pay Fe $800 for 2 months she worked unpaid, plus $1200 for the 3 months he caused her to stay in a safe house. He responded, alleging that Fe had run away with a boyfriend and that “such a maid should be punished for what she did.” When This Is Lebanon asked him for copies of her residence permit, he refused, saying, “stop annoying me. I don’t have to show you anything.” He then blocked us.





We wrote to Reem Yacoub Abdel Hadi saying: “Your husband just made a very unwise decision. Blocking us is not going to solve your problem. It is better to talk. If you did, indeed, do her papers on time each year than you are in the right and this story can be stopped immediately. Please send us a pic of the iqama (work permit) so I can see who is telling the truth. We are giving you an opportunity to show you are right.”





Reem responded that she did “everything and more than everything that this girl needs, and that each girl that works in the house is the most lucky girl ever, and about her papers, she has only one missing year.”