A Migrant's Tale: Justice is a virtue but often grossly violated, as in the case of a housemaid from Sri Lanka! She had the unfortunate luck of arriving (in our country) pregnant. Making her condition known resulted in abuse on the part of her employer as well as her agent. Time dragged on and her baby boy was born. The woman was never paid anything for her work and worse yet, the employer never finalized her visa/working permit. This meant that she and the baby were now illegal immigrants, being fined a daily penalty of ca. US$ 3. per person. The woman left the employer's house in search of help so she could return home. Together with the baby she wandered from place to place, until finally she came to the Caritas Center. There help was not immediately forthcoming either. Our Sisters supplied pampers and milk and other necessities. Her agent, who ultimately was responsible for her case, took the mother and child to a house in a nearby town, where they practically became prisoners. By this time Caritas appealed to the government and started a court procedure. The sisters kept visiting the woman, seeing her situation as desperate and not safe at all.

The Miracle: Our Sisters told this story to the other Sisters at our Regional meeting. We discussed intently our role as Salvatorians in service to women. By a sudden inspiration, one Sister proposed to put words into action. By coming up with the money for the woman’s violation of visa we could intervene and see that woman and baby return home. The Sisters decided to share the expenses. This took place in August. It took another two months and many visits to the immigration office, police station, and the agent. The case finally came to a closure when we paid the heavy fine to the government. The woman was put into police custody at various detention posts and finally kept in the women's prison. In October she was due to leave for home. One Sister went to the airport where she witnessed the most appalling scene. The woman and baby were brought to the airport like common criminals in a prison van, escorted by five police officers. One policeman was carrying the baby who screamed at the top of his voice. The Sister tried to say good-bye to the woman, when a police officer got aggressive, pushed and slapped her and told her to go away. The woman was not allowed to say even one word. All of this took place in public view in the departure area!! Adding to all the insults, the woman was not permitted to take any of her personal belongings except for one plastic bag.

This example of a human rights’ violation is by no means a unique case. Actually it is quite common. It is one tale of a defenseless, voiceless, migrant woman. To learn more about what Salvatorians are doing to help eliminate the trafficking of women and children visit the web site on slavery on the links page (under USA).