Diplomats involved in slavery

A lesser-known, but not uncommon human trafficking problem that has gained increased publicity in recent years, is domestic worker trafficking by foreign dignitaries.At a recent briefing with foreign press centre journalists in Washington, DC, Martina Vandenberg, a human rights lawyer who has fought extensively to address the issue, said the problem is not limited to the United States. “This isn't happening just in the United States. Trafficking by diplomats in capitals is a problem across the world.” Towards the end of 2017, in what was described as a landmark in the United Kingdom, the Supreme Court found in favour of two domestic workers who accused their diplomatic employers, from Saudi Arabia, of a range of abuses and labour trafficking. The ruling was hailed as a 'major breakthrough' for low-paid domestic workers in diplomatic households there, when the court gave the green light to the domestic workers that they could take their claims to an employment tribunal. Substantial problem Vandenberg noted that of the forced labour cases involving foreign workers her firm has tackled, 80% of cases involved either foreign diplomats or people from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and other international organisations.She said the pattern is the same in New York.“It's not thousands, or even hundreds, but in terms of the forced labour cases we see, it's a significant proportion.”Many other similar cases are resolved behind the scenes where settlement agreements are sealed from the public record. Many diplomats and their countries of origin have used immunity to shield the accused dignitaries from prosecution, but lawyers have increasingly found ways to navigate around the seemingly solid immunity barrier. “The audacity of diplomats to think that they can come to the United States and have no accountability is obnoxious,” Vandenberg noted. She has worked on cases where diplomats owe tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of US dollars in back wages, in addition to the often mental and physical abuse suffered by the domestic worker. One tool to hone in on high placed diplomats is to wait until their full immunity is downgraded to “residual immunity”, after they retire or switch posts. Residual immunity only applies during office hours, leaving the diplomat vulnerable to lawsuits after hours. “Every court in the United States who has looked at this, say that when you hold your domestic worker in forced labour, when you rape your nanny in your home, that is not part of your official duties,” Vandenberg, the founder and CEO of the Human Trafficking Legal Centre, said. Another move is to ask an alleged diplomatic trafficker's government to waive immunity. If this fails, US authorities can expel the dignitary from the country and pursue legal avenues to prosecute. What changed?Advocates agree that in many cases, domestic workers had previously worked for their diplomatic employers in their country of origin under decent circumstances. But, once they agree to join their employer at an official diplomatic posting, some diplomats cease the increased power imbalance between worker and employer, underscored by the safe cloak of immunity. “It's quite common. The reason the domestic worker chose to come to the United States and continue working for their employee, is because things were all right before and they believed they would be paid even more. But generally, they are not even paid what they were paid before,” Katherin Soltis, from Ayuda, a legal service for low-income immigrants, said. Advocates argue that the shift from just employer to abuser should highlight the “systemic” issues that pave the way for abuse by diplomats and others. Weak worker protections, isolation, and a state “unwilling or unable to protect the worker” are fertile conditions that “allow trafficking to flourish”, Jean Bruggeman, executive director of Freedom Network USA, argued. “In their home country, they had those connections that protected them. When they come to the US on an isolating visa that ties them to their employer and limits their opportunities, they are suddenly at risk, with nothing else changing, and an employer who has immunity.”She proposed that increased worker protections and visa flexibility, among other fixes, would decrease the risks of exploitation and trafficking. Still, in many case, diplomats are not held accountable, often because domestic workers fear, for varied reasons, to reach out for help. A report issued last year by the National domestic Workers Alliance and Institute for policy studies found that among all reported cases of human trafficking of domestic workers in the US, 78% of survivors were threatened with deportation if they reported abuse. Moreover, the seizure of passports, non-payment, long working hours, in addition to verbal, physical and sexual abuse, created a suffocating climate of fear.The report further slammed the immigration policies of the current administration, including increased raids, over-policing of immigrant populations and other issues as increasing the risks of human trafficking of vulnerable workers. Long-standing problem In a 2016 paper on diplomatic abuse of domestic workers and the legal hurdles posed by immunity, Vandenberg and her co-author, Sarah Bessel, noted that “trafficking of domestic workers by diplomats and international organisation employees is not a new phenomenon.” Vandenberg and Bessell wrote that while the United States has made significant improvements in recent years in prosecuting diplomats, challenges remain. “The United States is one of a few countries that prosecutes diplomats and other foreign officials for abuse and trafficking of domestic workers. In most countries, these cases are relegated to voluntary mediation panels or employment tribunals, if they are pursued at all.” Still, criminal prosecutions even in the United States are rare and when they happen, they often involve officials with a lesser status, and thus lesser degrees of immunity. The authors traced this hesitancy to tackle the problem to fear of souring relations between nations, or the “troubling conundrum that lurks at the heart of diplomatic relations.”The paper concluded that although the US government has “started down the path of prevention, prosecutions must also increase to deter would-be abusers. And while advocates look forward to a day when there will be no more diplomatic trafficking cases to prosecute or litigate, that day is a long way in the future.” *Namibian Sun journalist Jana-Mari Smith was in the United States on invitation by the US Department of State's Foreign Press Centre. She was joined 19 other journalists from around the world to take part in an international reporting tour to create awareness and gain insight into combating human trafficking through prevention, protection and prosecution. JANA-MARI SMITH

Diplomats involved in slavery

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-07-07

Please login to leave a comment

Diplomats involved in slavery

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-07-07

Please login to leave a comment

Login