In June, this year, a 52-year-old Ghanaian woman, Ms. Asabea (pseudonym) sought assistance at the Ban Ying Coordination and Counselling Centre, for a remedy of malpractices she suffered at the hands of her employer, a diplomat at the Ghana Embassy in Berlin.
Ban Ying is a Berlin-based Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), engaged in the work at combating human trafficking.
Ms. Asabea grew up in poverty and started working at the age of 10 for a family in her hometown in Ghana. According to her, she has been working since then except for some short breaks over the last several years. It should be noted that, Ms Asabea has throughout her life been working for the same family, of which the diplomat is a member. As such, she was the nanny for the family´s daughter, who later was going to become her employer.
In October 2012, her employer was appointed a diplomat at the Ghana Embassy in Berlin. The diplomat, (name with-held) brought Ms. Asabea with her to take care of the household.
According to regulations of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, domestic workers for diplomats should have labour rights equivalent to the German standards. Specifically, the Ministry established minimum standards for these migrant workers regarding minimum wage, health insurance and working hours, among others.
In a contract signed by Ms. Asabea and her employer (a requirement of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs), a frame of conditions was clearly defined under the German Foreign Ministry regulations, which stipulated the granting of a salary of 950 euro when the employee is offered free board and lodging. The regular working time was 38,5 hours weekly and any overtime should be paid.
In contrast to the contract Ms. Asabea appended her signature to, she had to work seven days a week, from early morning until late at night, with no days off.
The diplomat, Ms Asabea’s employer, took her passport away and didn’t provide her with a health insurance card as the law demands, so that she was never able to go see a doctor during the almost four years of work at the diplomat’s household. Instead of the salary she was entitled to, she was given only 20 euro per month, in contravention of the regulations set out for members of the diplomatic Corps accredited to Germany.
The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963 codified most modern diplomatic and consular practices, including diplomatic immunity. However, there are evil diplomats who misuse it to the detriment of the poor and the weak who happen to be in their midst.
Following Ms. Asabea’s will, Ban Ying contacted the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and this authority started a mediation process with the employer and Ms. Asabea. The meetings, which took place at the offices of the Ministry, were initiated aimed at finding a solution acceptable to both parties.
The diplomat when questioned, claimed to have paid the salary monthly to an account opened in Ms. Asabea’s name. However, following a close examination of the exhibited documentation, the salary was effectively transferred to that account, only to be withdrawn later in the month.
During the mediation process, it became clear that Ms. Asabea never had access to the bank account, nor did she receive the bank card or know the account number or PIN number. Where the money went, Ms. Asabea still does not know. According to her lawyer´s calculation, Ms. Asabea is entitled to receive around €86.000 for unpaid wages and overtime.
In the first half of November 2016, the employer left Germany. Perhaps, what the diplomat fails to realise is that, she is no longer protected by diplomatic immunity in her home country.
It is true that diplomats are exempt from the criminal, civil and administrative jurisdiction of the host country. However, this exemption may be waived by their home country. Moreover, the immunity of a diplomat from the jurisdiction of the host country does not exempt him/her from the jurisdiction of his/her home country.
What the Ghanaian diplomat did to Ms Asabea amounted to Trafficking in persons, which, under the Protocol to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime adopted in the year 2000 in Palermo, “shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force (…) for the purpose of exploitation.”
Consequently, Ms. Asabea, together with her lawyer and Ban Ying, are currently determining the next legal steps. She is willing to fight for her rights not only in the labour court, but also to report the case to the German police, who are entitled to seek the help of Interpol to track down the diplomat for justice to be served.
For those who care to know, Interpol provides proactive and systematic assistance to member countries, of which Ghana is one, and other international entities in order to locate and arrest fugitives who cross international boundaries.
AM/IK