By Roy Denish
A longtime Sri Lankan domestic worker in Lebanon has been killed in Israeli strikes, exposing the deadly vulnerability of migrant workers trapped in conflict zones with limited protection.
Israeli military strikes in southern Lebanon have drawn sharp criticism from humanitarian groups over their impact on foreign nationals, as a mounting toll of civilian casualties now includes a Sri Lankan domestic worker who had lived in the country for more than two decades.
The Sri Lankan Embassy in Lebanon is working to officially confirm the identity of the woman, known locally as Rahma, who was killed in a recent bombardment in the southern village of Habbouch. Neighbors reported she was a Sri Lankan citizen who had worked as a housemaid in Lebanon for 25 years.
Diplomatic efforts to formally verify her nationality have faced immediate logistical hurdles. Embassy sources said a preliminary search of the woman’s mobile phone did not reveal any immediate contacts based in Sri Lanka.
Her body remains at Najde Hospital in Nabatieh, a southern city near Habbouch that has seen heavy fighting. Embassy officials and an international humanitarian organization are currently awaiting security clearances from the Lebanese Ministry of Defense to access the hospital, identify the body, and begin repatriation procedures.
The death highlights the distinct vulnerabilities of the thousands of South Asian and African migrant workers trapped in conflict zones under the restrictive kafala sponsorship system, which often limits their mobility and access to emergency resources.
An estimated 7,500 Sri Lankan migrant workers remain in Lebanon, the majority of whom are domestic employees with over a decade of residency. While diplomatic sources confirmed that 25 Sri Lankans were evacuated from the south two weeks prior to the strike, and 23 have been repatriated, thousands more remain scattered across the country as Israeli forces expand their operations, occupying roughly 608 square kilometers of Lebanese territory.
