Kuwaiti Diplomat Flees in Face of Lawsuit

Today NPR reported that the State Department has barred a Kuwaiti diplomat and his wife from ever returning to this country.

In January, the ACLU sued the country of Kuwait and a Kuwaiti diplomat and his wife for trafficking three Indian women to McLean, Va., and forcing them to work as domestic employees and childcare workers against their will under slavery-like conditions. The lawsuit was filed in spite of the fact that the women's tormentors, Major Waleed Al Saleh, and his wife, Maysaa Al Omar, had diplomatic immunity.

Now that the couple has been expelled from the country, our clients can breathe easier knowing that they and their families are safe in the United States, but the onus is still on the U.S. government to ensure that these women are not left high and dry.

Now the women may not be able to redress their rights and claim compensation from their diplomat employers unless the State Department intervenes to assist them.

The women were forced to work every day from 6:30 or 7:00 a.m. until late in the night. They were physically and verbally abused. In one instance, one of the women was knocked unconscious after being thrown against a counter by the diplomat. They weren't even given time to eat or use the bathroom, and their passports were confiscated. They were isolated from contact with the outside world, and afraid to escape for fear of retribution from their employers.

For all this, the women received a paltry $250 to $350 per month. But they didn't see a penny of it, because the money was sent straight to their families.

With the help of a neighbor, the three women managed to escape this house of horror. The ACLU's lawsuit on their behalf contends the government of Kuwait, Al Saleh and Al Omar, violated several anti-human trafficking laws and federal wage and hour laws.

After we filed our lawsuit, the State Department told the couple that they had a choice: face prosecution for trafficking by the Justice Department without diplomatic immunity, or leave the country. In late September, they left.

While this is a victory for the three women who brought the suit and now live and work - under humane, normal conditions in New York - it's a drop in the pond compared to the 20,000 people who are trafficked into the U.S. every year.