y y p y , g y contracts. Moreover, Lebanon’s labour laws do not extend to them, meaning they are often denied basic protections such as minimum wage guarantees and paid time off. “There is no economic or social justice at all,” says Bou Khater, who sees the RAMCO strike as a long overdue reckoning. “This strike shows we are at a point where this is no longer acceptable. It shows how bad the system is.” As the country’s economy has spiralled further into crisis, thousands of migrant workers have applied to leave Lebanon, mainly citizens of the Philippines, Ethiopia and Bangladesh. Abdullah Al Mamun, Charge d’affaires at the Bangladesh Embassy in Beirut, told Al Jazeera that some 7,600 Bangladeshi nationals living and working in Lebanon have already registered for repatriation with the embassy. He estimates that of the roughly 150,000 Bangladeshi expatriates in the country, at least 10 percent would seek to return home due to the economic crisis. But getting home has been complicated by coronavirus containment measures. Lebanon’s only international airport in Beirut has been closed to civilian traffic for two months to stem the spread of COVID-19. Abuse allegations investigated Mamun said the Bangladeshi embassy has negotiated better terms – including a slight raise – for its nationals who are contracted work for RAMCO but who can’t get home yet. But beyond the pay dispute, workers have alleged more serious abuse. Some RAMCO workers circulated a joint statement on their personal social media accounts claiming that a mentally ill coworker had been denied treatment and “locked up in a dark room in the underground for three days and physically and mentally tortured by RAMCO company security” in mid-April.