Slavery on Our Doorstep

　　There are estimated to be more than 20,000 overseas domestic servants working in Britain (the exact figure is not known because the Home Office, the government department that deals with this, does not keep statistics). Usually, they have been brought over by foreign businessmen, diplomats or Britons returning from abroad. Of these 20,000, just under 2,000 are being exploited and abused by their employers, according to a London-based campaigning group which helps overseas servants working in Britain.

　　The abuse can take several forms. Often the domestics are not allowed to go out, and they do not receive any payment. They can be physically, sexually and psychologically abused. And they can have their passports removed, making leaving or "escaping" virtually impossible.

　　The sad condition of women working as domestics around the world received much media attention earlier this year in several highly publicised cases. In one of them, a Filipino maid was executed is Singapore after being convicted of murder, despite protests from various quarters that her guilt had not been adequately established.

　　Groups like Anti-Slavery International say other, less dramatic, cases are equally deserving of attention, such as that of Lydia Garcia, a Filipino maid working in London:"I was hired by a Saudi diplomat directly form the Philippines to work in London in 1989. I was supposed to be paid ￡120 but I never received that amount. They always threatened that they would send me back to my country."

　　Then there is the case of Kumari from Sri Lanka. The main breadwinner in her family, she used to work for a very low wage at a tea factory in Sri Lanka. Because she found it difficult to feed her four children, she accepted a job working as a domestic in London. She says she felt like a prisoner at the London house where she worked:"No days off - ever, no breaks at all, no proper food. I didn't have my own room; I slept on a shelf with a space of only three feet above me. I wasn't allowed to talk to anybody. I wasn't even allowed to open the window. My employers always threatened to report me to the Home Office or the police."

　　At the end of 1994 the British Government introduced new measures to help protect domestic workers from abuse by their employers. This included increasing the minimum age of employees to 18, getting employees to read and understand an advice leaflet, getting employers to agree to provide adequate maintenance and conditions, and to put in writing the main terms and conditions of the job (of which the employees should see a copy).

　　However, many people doubt whether this will successfully reduce the incidence of abuse. For the main problem facing overseas maids and domestics who try to complain about cruel living and working conditions is that they do not have independent immigrant status and so cannot change employer. (They are allowed in the United Kingdom under a special concession in the immigration rules which allows foreigners to bring domestic staff with them.) So if they do complain, they risk being deported.

　　Allowing domestic workers the freedom to seek the same type of work but with a different employer, if the so choose, is what groups like Anti-Slavery International are campaigning the Government for. It is, they say, the right to change employers which distinguishes employment from slavery.

　　我們身邊的奴役

　　據估計，在英國工作的外籍家庭傭人有兩萬多人。通常，他們是被外國商人、外交官和從國外歸來的英國人帶來的。根據某個設在倫敦的幫助在英國做工的外籍傭人的政治組織說，兩萬名傭人中有近兩千人被他們的雇主剝削、虐待。虐待有多種形式：家仆常不許外出或得不到工錢;有的家仆還受到肉體、性或精神方面的虐待;還有的護照遭到沒收，這樣他們走也走不了，逃也逃不掉。

　　今年早些時候引起大眾高度注意的事件中，全世界女傭的悲慘狀況得到了媒體的注意。其中一件是，一個菲律賓女傭在被判殺謀殺罪后，在新加坡被處決，盡管各方面都抗議她的罪行尚未充分證實。一些組織如"反奴役國際"稱還有一些案件雖然沒有菲律賓女傭案那么具有戲劇性，也同樣值得關注。如在倫敦做事的菲籍女傭迪亞加西亞一案："1989年一個沙特外交官直接把我從菲律賓雇來到倫敦工作。說是一個月120鎊，但多從沒有拿過那么多。她還經常嚇唬我，說要把我送回國去。"

　　此外，還有來自斯里蘭卡的庫馬里事件。她家主要靠她賺錢維持生計，她曾在斯里蘭卡一家茶場掙一份微薄的工資。因為她發現很難養活她的四個孩子，就接受了在倫敦做傭人的一份工作。她說在倫敦那所她工作的房子里感覺像個囚犯。"不放假，也不讓休息，連一口像樣的飯也吃不上。而且我沒有自己的房間，讓我睡在壁櫥的隔板上，躺上去，身子離上面的隔板只有三尺來高，還不容許我跟別人說話，連窗戶也不讓開。雇主動不動就嚇唬說要向內政部或警察告我的狀。"

　　1993年末英國政府采取了新措施，保護家傭不再受雇主的欺負。其中包括把雇傭的年齡提高到18歲，讓雇傭新聞記者并理解一份有建議的宣傳材料，使雇主同意提供適當的生活費用和條件，把工作的主要條款和條件形成文字。

　　但是，這些措施能否有效地減少虐待的發生，很多人感到懷疑。外籍女傭和家仆雖有意對惡劣的生活和工作條件提出控訴，但主要的問題是他們沒有獨立的移民身份，因此不能改換雇主，故而他們敢發泄不滿的話，就有被遣送回國的可能。

　　做家仆的人有選擇雇主的自由，這也就是"反奴役國際"這類組織努力促使政府去實現的事。這類組織說，正是改換雇主的權利劃清了雇傭和奴役的界限。