Posted: May 03, 2013 12:06 AM PST Updated: May 03, 2013 12:15 AM PST
Two women from the Philippines allege that a Saudi diplomat kept them as virtual slaves at his home. (Source: WJLA/CNN)
The two Philippino women worked at the residence of the Saudi Arabian defense attaché, a luxurious, guarded compound in McLean, VA, valued at almost $3 million, with bars on the windows.
State department officials tell CNN the women claim the Saudi diplomat held their passports, forced them to work extremely long hours, did not pay them, would enter their rooms and wouldn't let them lock their doors.
Officials say, so far, there appears to be no indication of physical or sexual abuse.
The women somehow contacted the Philippine embassy for help. It, in turn, informed U.S. authorities.
Agents from Homeland Security and the State Department came to the house and removed the women,
They're calling them "potential trafficking victims" and have launched an investigation.
"That is so sad someone had to cry for help that way," said Frances Roller, neighbor. "I don't know how they did that."
The neighbor says the attache and his family moved in about two years ago.
"They have a lot of people around, the security section, but everything is very quiet, and everyone was very polite if you happen to encounter anyone that works there," she said. "They were very nice."
One major complication, if these charges are proven, is that staff at the embassy has diplomatic immunity, making it virtually impossible to prosecute them.
"Diplomats are under a duty to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving state, and so that's something that holds true for diplomats here and what we hold true for our people," Patrick Ventrell, State Department spokesman, said.
A nation can waive diplomatic immunity, allowing its officials to be prosecuted.
Georgia did that when one of its diplomats, driving drunk, killed a woman pedestrian in Washington DC in 1997.
But nations - including the United States - also have flown their diplomats home so they don't have to face prosecution.
The State Department says trafficking is common in Saudi Arabia, and its annual trafficking report says workers there face "long working hours without rest, deprivation of food, threats, physical or sexual abuse, and restrictions on movement."
Source:
Copyright 2013 WJLA via CNN. All rights reserved.
Two women from the Philippines allege that a Saudi diplomat kept them as virtual slaves at his home. (Source: WJLA/CNN)
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