Housekeeper accuses Peruvian diplomat of human trafficking in US

Kirk Semple, The New York Times | Updated: June 26, 2013 13:01 IST

Ads by Google

Watch Full Episodes – Turn Your Computer into a TV! Watch Full TV Episodes w Free App

www.TelevisionFanatic.com

Housekeeper accuses Peruvian diplomat of human trafficking in US

A Peruvian woman has accused a top official at Peru's mission to the United Nations of entrapping her in a life of involuntary servitude in the New Jersey suburbs, forcing her to work as many as 16 hours a day, seven days a week for little or no compensation.

The woman, Maria Rios Fun, said that the official, Marita Puertas Pulgar, first secretary of the Peruvian mission, and her partner, Alexis Aquino Albegrin, had promised her fair wages and a humane work schedule when they recruited her in Lima, Peru, last year to work in their house in Wayne, New Jersey, while Puertas was stationed at the UN.

But on her arrival, Rios said, the couple subjected her to a grueling work schedule with one day off every six weeks and a campaign of intimidation and coercion.

Most Recent

Also See

Rios, 40, filed a lawsuit last week in US District Court in Newark, accusing Puertas and Aquino of trafficking her for forced labor. "The defendants preyed on her vulnerability, isolated her, and required her to work long hours for virtually no pay," the lawsuit said.

In a statement issued through their lawyer, Puertas and Aquino said, "We are surprised by the allegations by Ms. Maria Esmeralda Rios Fun, which we reject categorically."

The couple said they would refrain from further comment in order not to harm the judicial process.

Every year, thousands of foreigners are issued special visas to come to the United States and work for foreign diplomats. But immigrants' advocates contend that some diplomats, behind the cover of diplomatic immunity, take advantage of those employees, violating local and federal labor laws and sometimes confining them to a form of modern-day slavery.

A report by the Government Accountability Office in 2008 found that since 2000 at least 42 foreigners brought to the United States to work as domestic workers said they were abused by their employers.

The authors of the survey asserted that their tally was likely an undercount, because many victims were probably too fearful to speak up.

Rios said in an interview that she had worked for Puertas and Aquino in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where they were stationed in the early 2000s, and later in Lima. She had little complaint with their treatment of her during those years.

Before coming to the United States in October, she said, she signed a contract establishing the terms of her employment: She would work as a "housekeeper" seven hours a day, five days a week, at a wage of $9.82 per hour and overtime pay of $14.73 per hour. In addition, according to the lawsuit, she would be granted paid holidays, sick days and 15 paid vacation days per year, as well as three meals per day, six days per week.

But as soon as she arrived, Rios said, her employers revealed hidden intentions. She said she was ordered not only to clean the two-story, four-bedroom house but also to cook for the couple and their four young children - the youngest of whom was 18 months old - and drive the older children to and from school. Amid her cleaning and cooking duties, she said, she would baby-sit and change the infant, as well as care for house guests and tend to the garden.

Rios' work days often began at dawn and ended at 10 pm, and she was given only "very basic food, like bread and coffee," the lawsuit said. "Ms Rios Fun frequently was hungry."

Instead of paying her the rate stipulated in the contract, she said, the couple told her they would pay her a flat rate of $900 a month, significantly less than her base salary not including overtime. Even so, Rios said they paid her only several hundred dollars each month after deducting money to cover the cost of clothing and toiletries they bought for her.

She was given only four days off in six months, she said.

The couple isolated Rios, who does not speak English, by forbidding her from leaving the house except to drive the children to and from school, the lawsuit said. It also said that they subjected her to "verbal abuse and psychological coercion."

On April 27, Rios called a national human trafficking hot line that was listed in documents she had been given at the US Embassy in Lima. She fled and was eventually introduced to Safe Horizon, an agency in New York City that helps crime victims, which has provided her with counseling, shelter, legal representation and other support.

The lawsuit said Rios was seeking the return of her belongings as well as unspecified back wages and damages for trafficking and breach of contract. She also might be eligible for a T visa, which is reserved for victims of human trafficking, said her lawyer, Dana Sussman, staff attorney for Safe Horizon's anti-trafficking program.

"I don't want others to go through what I did," she said.

__._,_.___

Reply via web post

Reply to sender

Reply to group

Start a New Topic

Messages in this topic (1)

Recent Activity:

Visit Your Group

Red Democratica 10 years "On line" (1998-2008)!
Http://reddemocratica.blogspot.com
Boletin Diario :
Http://reddemocratica01.blogspot.com
Foro Debate :
Http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eleccion

Ahora en FACEBOOK : Red Democratica

Http://www.caretas.com.pe/2000/1631/articulos/protesta.phtml
Http://www.caretas.com.pe/2000/1612/articulos/debate.phtml

Celebrando 10 anos "On Line"..2009

Keep the candle burning

I have a dream
http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/about_king/interactiveFrame.htm

FORUM TPSIPOL: RED DEMOCRATICA (1998-1999).
Informacion : Http://tpsipol.home-page.org

Para enviar un message , enviar a: eleccion@yahoogroups.com
Para suscribirse al Forum , enviar un mensaje a : eleccion-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Para salir del Forum, enviar un mensaje en blanco : eleccion-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com