August 6, 2008

Marichu Suarez Baoanan's Case

Posted by Catherine-Mercedes Judge at 12:00PM

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A campaign around a woman being trafficked into the United States reveals another case of modern day slavery in New York City.

“My eyes became blurry from crying every night. It was like I did not have hope to escape or to continue to live. I thought about committing suicide because I was so depressed – I couldn’t even send money for my family’s food”.

These are the words of Marichu Suarez Baoanan when she spoke last week about being trafficked into the United States.

Marichu Suarez Baoanan Case

Marichu Suarez Baoanan met Norma Baja of Labaire International Inc. in the Philippines. Baja promised her a package deal of a visa, plane ticket, and work authorization to become a nurse in New York City. When Marichu paid the agency, they made her sign a contract that she could not read.

Upon Marichu’s arrival in New York, she was forced to work for the family who owned the travel agency, Lauro Baja the former UN Ambassador to the Philippines (2003-2006), his wife Norma Baja, and their daughter Maria "Beth" Facundo. She worked 18 or more hours every day for three months at the Bajas’ home in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Her passport was taken from her and was left isolated inside the house, subject to verbal and physical abuse. Her compensation? One hundred dollars. The Bajas’ defense? She was indebted to them for the package deal.

In April 2008, a concerned individual who knew the Bajas family connected Marichu with DAMAYAN Migrant Workers Association, which organizes Filipina domestic workers in New York and New Jersey and is led primarily by young Filipinas in their 20's. Her referral led to legal representation by the Asian American and Legal Defense Education Fund (AALDEF) and Troutman Sanders. Together, on June 24, 2008 they filed a lawsuit against the Bajas Family and Labaire International on 15 counts, including trafficking, forced labor, peonage, slavery and violations of wage and hour laws. On July 15th, the Bajas family claims dimplomatic immunity and attempts to escape all charges.

Young Women Leading the Campaign

At a community speak out on August 1 there were a number of domestic worker organizations and their allies in front of the Philippine Consulate, in Manhattan.

One of the speakers, Joana Palomar, 22 is a member of a youth run grassroots organization called, Ugnayan ng mga Anak ng Bayan ("linking the children of the motherland") which organizes Filipino immigrant youth, and second generation Filipino youth around issues like forced migration and family seperation. UGNAYAN is working closely with DAMAYAN on this campaign because they believe the issues are interconnected.

When asked why she as a young person, cares about this campaign, Joana replied, “ The experiences shared by Filipino migrant workers are the same among the youth and the elder. We are more vulnerable as migrants, youth, and as women. With the feminization of labor, it is not a coincidence that it is constantly women being exploited as cheap labor. We understand the oppression she [Marichu] experiences and that things happen in cycles, as we are the next cycle of cheap labor from the Philppines.”

These cases are not new, nor are they infrequent. The United States Government Accountability Office (US GAO) recently released a report that critiques the United States on their inability to prevent human rights abuses by diplomats residing in their borders. In the report (PDF), US GAO states, “... the U.S. government’s process for investigating trafficking of household workers by foreign diplomats has, in some instances, been hampered by delays in coordination between State and Justice on the use of investigative techniques.”

For more information:

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/justice-for-marichu-end-trafficking.html

http://endtrafficking.blogspot.com