The term 'feminization of international migration' has been used to describe the recent increase in women's independent migration, especially as labourers. Women's migration, in order to work in the informal sector, including as domestic workers, has shaped this recent trend. There is, however, very little research on this trend, especially in the Middle East. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) attempts to begin to fill this gap in information with an exploratory study of the profile, legal standing, recruitment and migration trends, working and living conditions and services available to these migrant labourers. Through a literature review, interviews with embassies, manpower agencies and organizations working with foreign domestic workers, as well as in a survey of the workers themselves, this report provides a beginning point towards an understanding of the situation of foreign domestic workers in Syria.