Naela Chohan, who is a respected career diplomat is Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Australia. She has dedicated her life to serving the country and has been known among international diplomatic community as a very learned lady who has a deep understanding international politics.

Ms. Chohan is being accused for allegedly keeping an employee in destitute conditions and forcing him to work as a slave

Shahid Mahmood, a shy 32 year old Pakistani, worked as an employee for Naela Chohan for about 19 months.

According to him, he was first made to sign a sham contract declaring that he would be paid $640 a week

The contract was signed in Pakistan and later approved by the Australian Foreign Affairs Department.

However as soon as he started working, he realised that the amount written was only for the purpose of documentation. He was only ever paid $5 on the occasion of Eid and he would give that away to some beggar.

Money would be sent back to his family in Pakistan. During the 19 months that he worked for, an amount of $ $US6,000 ($7,700) has been transferred back to his father in Pakistan.

The living conditions that Shahid Mahmood describes having been forced to live in are shocking

He would live in a storage basement and work from 7am to 9pm.

“It wasn’t good because it was an absolutely filthy sort of place, I mean it wasn’t clean at all. There was no TV, nor was there any air-conditioning, not even a fan.”

“On some days, when there was a function held by the High Commissioner, he would work until maybe 1:00am or 2:00am,” said David Hillard, pro bono partner at the large law firm Clayton Utz, who acts for some of the escaped workers.

He was not allowed to step out of the house and was responsible for cleaning, gardening and cooking. They would threaten to break his legs if he tried leaving the house.

He says he would cry out of exhaustion and the lack of sleep but he could not leave due to fear of the consequences. His passport had also been taken away which left him helpless

The exhaustion eventually landed him in the hospital and that is where a security guard told him his rights. He managed to escape and went to a survival school in Sydney for domestic workers who have escaped.

The High Commissioner, Naela Chohan, has refused to comment on the allegations.

Interestingly, thanks to international laws, even if the allegations are proved correct, no action can be taken

Diplomats are protected by diplomatic immunity, which means that the host country can take no legal action against the diplomats of another country. Even if a case is to be pursued, the initiative has to be taken by the Pakistani government itself and the proceedings will take place in the home country. Due to this reason, many diplomats exploit the protection offered by the immunity that they have and many are wronged in the process.

What course of action do you think should be taken in this case?

Source: abc.net.au