Diplomats and abuse — chipping at the shield of immunity
Key takeaways
- Domestic workers who were mistreated by diplomats are often denied justice due to their abusers enjoying diplomatic immunity.
- For 12 years, Malaya*, a Filipino domestic worker, felt like her life was dictated by updates in the legal case against her former employer, an Emirati diplomat.
- Court documents indicate Malaya was imprisoned for 89 days in what was described as slave-like conditions.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Domestic workers who were mistreated by diplomats are often denied justice due to their abusers enjoying diplomatic immunity. But court rulings in the UK and Switzerland have paved the way for change.
https://p.dw.com/p/5FUxt The Philippines is a major source of migrant workers, especially domestic helpers and nurses (2015 file photo)Image: Robert Oswald Alfiler/Pacific Press/picture alliance Advertisement Reporting for this project was supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Center.
For 12 years, Malaya*, a Filipino domestic worker, felt like her life was dictated by updates in the legal case against her former employer, an Emirati diplomat. She had been working for him in the United Arab Emirates before moving with the foreign envoy and his family to London in 2013.