by MARTIJN VAN TOL
Ambassadors and senior diplomats in The Hague are guilty of exploiting and imprisoning their staff. Domestic servants have told Radio Netherlands Worldwide and Dutch daily Trouw their stories of mistreatment. And the abuses are still happening today, according to the organisation Bonded Labour in the Netherlands (BLiN). It’s nothing short of “modern slavery” says lawyer Antoinette Vlieger.
Foreign diplomats in The Hague like to employ Philippine servants. They do what they’re told and they work hard. The diplomats enjoy immunity – there’s no one to check up on the way they treat their domestic staff.
The grand houses along the coast behind the dunes in The Hague are popular as homes for foreign diplomats and ambassadors. They employ an army of waiters, cleaners, nannies and cooks, often brought in from overseas. One of them was 50-year-old Cheryl Barrio from the Philippines.
Passports confiscated
It’s spring 2003. Cheryl Barrio unpacks her suitcases in the house of the new Saudi Arabian ambassador to the Netherlands. She has already been working for the family in Saudi Arabia. When they arrive in the Netherlands the ambassador says she has to hand over her passport and tells her she’s not allowed to leave the house. A year later he says he needs more domestic staff. He has Cheryl’s daughter Amelia and son Benigno fly over from the Philippines. Their passports are also confiscated, and they’re also forbidden to set foot outside.
The three know what they have to do: get up early, work and sleep. Benigno works as a waiter and odd-job man, Amelia and Cheryl do the cleaning and washing. Sometimes the ambassador’s daughter will bring her jeans to be washed at midnight – she expects them to be clean and ironed ready for her in the morning.
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