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International diplomats don cloak of immunity to mask trafficking of domestic servants from their home countries • Human trafficking: How the US maps your country The US state department has expressed concern about the abuse of domestic staff working in foreign embassies in London, saying repeated allegations of mistreatment have not been addressed by the government. A report on human trafficking published on Monday warned that international diplomats often exploit staff brought from their home countries, and then hide behind the cloak of diplomatic immunity. These workers are especially vulnerable, with some being held virtual prisoners in the embassies, their passports withheld, to work 16-hour days, seven days a week, for low pay. In the worst cases, they are bullied and assaulted. “We have seen enough allegations of diplomatic abuses of domestic servants in London that have gone unaddressed that we would like to work with our counterparts to come up with – what for want of a better word – an industry standard,” ambassador Luis CdeBaca, who heads the state department office to monitor and combat trafficking, said in an interview in Washington. He said the US was planning an international conference in the coming year to bring together countries that have a big diplomatic presence to come up with an agreement aimed at preventing such abuses. In its Trafficking In Persons Report, at more than 400 pages the most comprehensive survey of human trafficking worldwide, the state department lists examples of modern-day slavery ranging from trafficking for sex to child labour, and includes the abuse of embassy staff. It rates countries according to how well they attempt to eliminate trafficking. Britain is rated in the top tier but the report notes with regard to diplomatic abuses: “Some domestic workers reportedly are subjected to forced labour by diplomats in the UK. There are concerns that these diplomatic employers are often immune from prosecution.” CdeBaca said: “One of the things we have seen is that because of diplomatic immunities, which are an important part of international diplomacy, the remedies for people who are abused or enslaved by someone who has diplomatic status are limited.” CdeBaca said host nations could comply with international rules on diplomatic immunity and still constrain the behaviour of diplomats. “If diplomats know they are going to be held to the same standard of responsibility of treating their staff if they are in Paris, Brussels, DC or London, then hopefully that changes the general approach to treating staff across all of diplomacy.” There have been 19 recent cases of alleged trafficking of domestic workers by diplomats in London reported to the government’s anti-trafficking agency by the charity Kalayaan. Kalayaan, which supports victims of human trafficking and migrant workers suffering abuse or exploitation, believes the problem is much bigger than the reported cases. Many of those mistreated are too terrified to report their suffering for fear of losing their immigration status, and desperately need to work to support families. About 300 domestic workers accompany their diplomatic employers to the UK each year. The state department, in an effort to tackle such abuses in the US, last year called in foreign diplomats and put them on notice, saying domestic staff must be paid in future by electronic transfer. The diplomats were told how allegations of abuse would be handled, with warnings that embassies could be barred from bringing in domestic staff in the future. CdeBaca also praised progress made in Belgium, Austria and Switzerland. “We are hoping to get some of these countries that have a large diplomatic presence together sometime in the next year so that we can try to figure out what is the best practice, what is working, what is not working. Part of this is so that we can make our systems here in the United States better but also so we can come up with an industry standard,” CdeBaca said. Belgium, the host to both European Union and United Nations diplomats, demands that domestic employees have their documents regularly renewed. The employees attend interviews at the foreign ministry without their employers and if they confide abuse, diplomats can be expelled or prohibited from bringing in domestic staff from their own countries. “That is a pretty brave thing for a country to do,” CdeBaca said. Domestic staff working in London embassies are admitted under a special visa programme which prohibits alternative employment outside the diplomatic mission. A recent Kalayaan report said this increased their vulnerability to exploitation. There was a “high incidence” of passports being held by employers, and diplomatic immunity meant employers could escape sanctions for mistreatment. “Indeed, some diplomats use their status to intimidate their domestic staff. For example, one worker described how his employer told him in the UK he was effectively as powerful as the president of his country,” said the charity, in its report Ending the Abuse published in May. “This leaves such workers feeling they have little choice but to accept whatever treatment is meted out to them.” Based on its case studies, Kalayaan said 64% of diplomatic domestic staff work a seven-day week, 57% receive £50 per week or less, and 50% work 16-hour days. In addition, 65% have their passports taken away from them and held by their employer and 58% reported they had been bullied or psychologically abused. It is estimated 3.8% of diplomatic domestic workers in the UK are trafficked, compared with 0.2% of migrant domestic workers in private households. They represented one-third of all trafficking cases referred to the UK human trafficking centre by Kalayaan, even though diplomatic domestic workers make up one fiftieth of migrant domestic workers. Campaigners want diplomatic domestics to be accorded the same rights as other migrant domestic workers, who can change employers. On 9 June Damian Green, the immigration minister, announced a three-month consultation on employment-related settlement, which included proposals to limit diplomatic domestics to six- or 12-month stays, or to remove the migrant domestic workers visa. Kalayaan said limiting stays to up to one year was impractical as most diplomatic posts were for four years. “The UK government proposes to return us to slavery in the UK. They have ignored evidence that trafficking of domestic workers by diplomats is a problem and worse, have proposed to remove protections from all migrant domestic workers,” said Jenny Moss, community advocate for Kalayaan. Human trafficking Immigration and asylum United States Foreign policy US foreign policy Ewen MacAskill Caroline Davies guardian.co.uk