Diplomats and abuse — chipping at the shield of immunity

Reporting for this project was supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Center.

For 12 years, Malaya*, a Filipino domestic worker, felt like her life was dictated by updates in the legal case against her former employer, an Emirati diplomat. She had been working for him in the United Arab Emirates before moving with the foreign envoy and his family to London in 2013.

Court documents indicate Malaya was imprisoned for 89 days in what was described as slave-like conditions. Once she had escaped, filing a case turned out to be difficult — Malaya faced years of bureaucratic delays and dismissal because her employer was protected by diplomatic immunity.

Earlier this year, a UK court ordered the UAE government to pay Malaya £270,000 (€312,290, $362,440) in damages for false imprisonment, unpaid wages and post-traumatic stress disorder.

"I really want to shout to the whole world that we did it. That's me. I never gave up. I can say it's a victory," a tearful Malaya told DW.

"We need to continue fighting, because I'm not fighting just for myself, but for everyone. I don't want anyone to experience the same horrible experience," she added.

The UAE Embassy in London did not respond to emails requesting a comment.

Courts put limits on diplomatic immunity

Malaya's case is one among others that signal a wider legal shift on diplomatic immunity. In 2022, UK courts ruled that diplomats cannot invoke immunity in cases linked to modern slavery or trafficking, while a 2025 Swiss ruling similarly opened the door for domestic worker exploitation claims to be examined as regular employer-employee labor disputes.

"There is clear hope for justice for all these vulnerable employees without whom diplomats relieved of the tasks of daily life would not be able to accomplish their missions," Mirella Falco, head of the SIT workers' union in Geneva, told DW.

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Cora Espanto and her two children worked for a Saudi diplomat in the Netherlands in 2012.  After a meticulously planned escape in the wee hours of the morning, Espanto found out she could not sue her diplomat employer because of his immunity.

Espanto is now a cultural mediator for an Amsterdam-based rights group, Fairwork . She has been assisting other migrant workers experiencing abuse, many of whom are exploited by diplomats.

"The problem of abusive diplomats persists. There should be more court rulings indicating that diplomatic immunity does not apply — especially in cases of domestic workers," Espanto told DW.

Abusers hiding behind Vienna Convention

Diplomatic immunity, a legal protection accorded to foreign envoys under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, is intended to protect diplomats from civil and criminal suits so they can freely perform their duties. However, some diplomats have used the loophole to escape prosecution altogether.

A 2023 global investigation by Philippine news outlet Rappler revealed the extent of the problem. Compiled open-source documents and interviews with domestic workers reveal that over 200 domestic workers in 18 different countries had lodged complaints against 160 diplomats from 1988 to 2021. Most of the cases were dismissed due to diplomatic immunity.

This legal hurdle comes on top of the usual quagmire that millions of domestic workers are forced to navigate. According to an estimate by the International Labor Organization, there are more than 75 million people working as domestic workers across the globe. About 81% are informally employed and thus excluded from workplace standards on minimum wage and protections against sexual harassment. The ILO Domestic Workers Convention, Number 189 establishes international benchmarks for the inclusion of domestic workers in labor laws and regulations.

Positive signals out of Europe, Latin America

Claire Hobden, technical specialist on domestic workers at the ILO, told DW that more countries have now introduced legal protections on wages, working hours and benefits for domestic workers. The implementation of these measures, however, has been uneven, and many informal workers remain in the legal gray zone.

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While regions like Latin America and parts of Europe have shown progress, legal exclusions remain common in Africa, Asia-Pacific and Arab nations.

Violence, harassment and risks to occupational health and safety all remain major concerns, Hobden explained.

Philippine ambassador abusing Filipino maid

Still, many see recent court verdicts and legal changes as a reason for hope.

"The court decisions affirm the equality of treatment and equal application of labor laws to all workers, including domestic workers — local or migrant," Ellene Sana, executive director of the Center for Migrant Advocacy in Manila, told DW. "It is our hope that other countries will follow suit and clearly define the extent of diplomatic immunity, especially when they employ domestic workers in their households."

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The Philippines is a major source of migrant workers, especially domestic helpers and nurses, for many countries around the world.

Sana has urged Manila to engage foreign countries and boost migrant rights, and also called on the Philippines to police its own diplomatic ranks. In 2021, a video showing Marichu Mauro, then Philippine ambassador to Brazil, physically abusing her 51-year-old Filipino domestic worker went viral. Mauro was dismissed from public office.

"How can the Philippines be a gold standard for protection of migrant workers if the duty bearers have the gall to abuse our own? Rules should be more stringent on them as diplomats based on the evidence and investigative reports," said Sana.

*Name changed to protect privacy

Edited by: Darko Janjevic