Urgent Appeal for ARM Emergency Operations (2026)
ARM operations amid mass displacement and civilian harm during Israel’s continued war on Lebanon (March 2026)
<strong>About Us</strong>
The Anti-Racism Movement (ARM) was launched in 2010 as a grassroots collective by young Lebanese feminist activists in collaboration with migrant domestic workers and organizers. ARM’s vision is to see a just society where all migrants enjoy decent living and working conditions. Our mission is to achieve social, economic, and gender justice for all migrant workers and racialized groups (with a special focus on women migrant domestic workers) in Lebanon.
<strong>The Crisis</strong>
Since the March 2026 escalation of Israel’s war on Lebanon, Israeli forces have been indiscriminately shelling entire villages and striking residential buildings. Within weeks, martyrs were in the thousands, with indiscriminate attacks affecting the general population, including children.
Over one million people have fled areas under attack, while airstrikes and missile exchanges have damaged health facilities, essential services, and bridges connecting communities. Public schools have been opened as emergency shelters, many reaching full capacity within just a few days, while other families take refuge in mosques, community halls, or unfinished buildings, often without reliable access to water, sanitation, or safe living conditions.
The situation is especially dire for migrant workers, who are being denied access to shelters, excluded from services, and abandoned in conflict zones. With resources dwindling, needs increasing, and a shift toward a war economy in which daily-paid work is no longer available, the already precarious status of migrant workers under the Kafala system has become more critical than ever.
<strong>What We’re Doing</strong>
To respond, ARM has temporarily shifted its operations to:
<ul>
<li>Mapping needs of migrant workers and other groups excluded from other responses (such as Sudanese refugees, migrant children) and collecting information on available support systems</li>
<li>Answering calls for assistance and connecting people to available services</li>
<li>Working with communities to put pressure on various actors who are mandated to support migrants in Lebanon (embassies, governmental migration institutions, humanitarian support systems)</li>
<li>Offering a staffed and accessible space where communities can meet each other, bring their children, connect, cook, organize and share important resources and information with one another</li>
<li>Collecting various types of in-kind donations for emergency cases
Supporting migrant worker mutual aid initiatives</li>
<li>Upscaling security mitigation measures and investing in maintaining key operations during war</li>
</ul>
<strong>Support Our Work</strong>
The significant lack of funding in the region to ensure our work can continue long-term has been a huge challenge since the start of the Genocide in 2024 and all the different wars that have followed in the country and region. This is coupled with the internal need to focus on conflict mitigation processes and responding to the conflict, which has further reduced our fundraising capacity to outreach. ARM is therefore urgently requesting financial support to sustain our emergency response mechanisms.
