Top WHO official in Thailand denies maid slavery claims

[Lite Beer]

Top WHO official in Thailand denies maid slavery claims

Bangkok, Thaïlande | AFP |

BANGKOK: -- The World Health Organization's top official in Thailand on Saturday denied beating his Ethiopian domestic helper and treating her like a modern day slave.


The 25-year-old unnamed maid filed a complaint with police last month accusing Dr Yonas Tegegn, the WHO's representative in Thailand, and his wife of abusing her and forcing her to work without pay for nearly two years.


Police on Wednesday said they would investigate the allegations and question the couple, who are also Ethiopian nationals.


In a statement released Saturday, Tegegn denied the claims.


"These accusations made against me and my family are baseless. We deny any wrongdoing," he said in a statement emailed to AFP.


Tegegn added that he hoped both the media and Thailand's legal system would "give us a fair chance to clear our name".


The unnamed maid's lawyer Surapong Kongchantuk from the Lawyers Council of Thailand told AFP earlier in the week that she had worked for the family between July 2013 and March 2014.


He alleged that she had not received a proper salary during that time, had to sleep in a room with the family's dog, was physically abused and was only fed rice.


He said the maid escaped her employers when she was rescued by passers-by after a suicide attempt and is being helped by a local NGO to pursue a case against her employers.


In the statement Tegen said the maid began working with the family in June 2013 until March 8.


"After that date she was scheduled to return to her home country Ethiopia," the statement said.


Tegegn added that "at all times we have treated her (the maid) as a member of our family, with all dignity, respect and consideration".


A WHO official in Bangkok said the organisation was "aware of the allegations in the media about a private matter between Dr Yonas and his former employee".


"WHO is taking this allegations very seriously, and we are reviewing them according to WHO internal procedures," the spokesman said.


According to a biography on the WHO's website, Tegegn is a doctor with 30 years' experience who has worked for the organisation in Ethiopia, Rwanda, Switzerland, India and North Korea before his Thailand posting.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2015-04-04

[MikeTexas]

This problem is very common in the middle east.

[Bignose]

At least he has made a public statement confirming his identity and his side of the story, hopefully we shall now have a full, impartial and fair investigation into the actual facts of what really happened, without the protection afforded by his position and status.

If he is found to have behaved in this way as accused then hopefully he will answer for his actions, this could be an opportune moment for the present government to send a signal to the world.

Yes there are a huge amount of existing issues to be dealt with here in Thailand we all know that, but a start has to be made somewhere and this looks as good a time as any...

[JOC]

This problem is very common in the middle east.

Being from Texas and all, this might come as a surprise to you:

Neither Thailand nor Ethiopia are in the Middle East!!

[phil2407]

If he paid her show salary slips or deposits into her bank account - WHO very strict when comes to accounting

[JOC]

Mr Yonas Tegegns last position before Thailand was North Korea!!

Maybe he suffers from strong-man-syndrome??

BTW. He is the top dog of WHO Thailand.

[mercman24]

i expect he said "do you know who i am" well he wasn't going to say, "yes it was me, guilty as charged" was he.

[mango66]

no problem at all !

he will show the court the payment slips for every month !

and stamp watch for every day - mh -

sorry she were there catched for 24 hrs, a week, a month , a year ,

so 1 stamp in , 1 stamp out ;;

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Fat Haggis]

I've worked in Iraq for 11 years I can produce about 20 payslips in total, payslips prove nothing it's a bit of paper.

What is more pertinent is her work permit and visa which people dismissed earlier, her employer will have applied for her visa, but maybe she didn't need one if he has diplomatic status?

[MikeTexas]

This problem is very common in the middle east.

Being from Texas and all, this might come as a surprise to you:

Neither Thailand nor Ethiopia are in the Middle East!!

Denigration aside, the point is that the abuse of “household staff” is common among the hierarchy in third-world countries.

[Lite Beer]

WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION
WHO official denies abusing helper

BANGKOK: -- THE World Health Organisation's top official in Thailand yesterday denied beating his Ethiopian domestic helper and treating her like a modern-day slave.

The 25-year-old unnamed maid filed a complaint with police last month accusing Dr Yonas Tegegn and his wife of abusing her and forcing her to work without pay for nearly two years.

Police on Wednesday said they would investigate the allegations and question the couple, who are also Ethiopian nationals.

In a statement released yesterday, Tegegn denied the claims.

"These accusations made against me and my family are baseless. We deny any wrongdoing," he said in a statement emailed to AFP.

Tegegn added that he hoped both the media and Thailand's legal system would "give us a fair chance to clear our name".

The maid's lawyer, Surapong Kongchantuk, from the Lawyers Council of Thailand, told AFP last week that his client had worked for the family between July 2013 and March this year.

He alleged that she had not received a proper salary during that time, had to sleep in a room with the family's dog, was physically abused and was only fed rice.

He said the maid escaped her employers when she was rescued by passers-by after a suicide attempt and is being helped by a local non-government group to take a case against her employers.

In the statement, Tegegn said the maid worked for his family between June 2013 and March 8.

"After that date she was scheduled to return to her home country Ethiopia," he said.

Tegegn added that "at all times we have treated her as a member of our family, with all dignity, respect and consideration".

A WHO official in Bangkok said the organisation was "aware of the allegations in the media about a private matter between Dr Yonas and his former employee".

"WHO is taking this [sic] allegations very seriously, and we are reviewing them according to WHO internal procedures," the spokesman said.

According to a biography on the WHO's website, Tegegn is a doctor with 30 years' experience who worked for the organisation in Ethiopia, Rwanda, Switzerland, India and North Korea before his Thailand posting.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/WHO-official-denies-abusing-helper-30257449.html

-- The Nation 2015-04-05

[NongKhaiKid]

I've worked in Iraq for 11 years I can produce about 20 payslips in total, payslips prove nothing it's a bit of paper.

What is more pertinent is her work permit and visa which people dismissed earlier, her employer will have applied for her visa, but maybe she didn't need one if he has diplomatic status?

Interesting point about diplomatic status because if he has it changes the whole picture. Remember the furor and diplomatic incident last year when US authorities arrested an indian diplomat over alleged offences involving a maid ?

I have no idea if the head of mission of various UN agencies in each country will have it, can anyone expand ?

[Rogergreybeard]

Crooks investigating crooks

[memkuk]

This problem is very common in the middle east.

Uhhh?

[Si Thea01]

According to one Newspaper he has diplomatic immunity but apparently it can be revoked if he has committed an offence. His wife has no immunity. Don't know if this is correct or not, it's only what's been reported.

[wabothai]

Now, who to believe.

I just can't believe she only got rice to eat.

Why doesn't the doctor just pay her a bit and send her pronto back to E, iso of having to go through this.

[Bakseeda]

This problem is very common in the middle east.

Being from Texas and all, this might come as a surprise to you:

Neither Thailand nor Ethiopia are in the Middle East!!

Look as I may JOC, I cannot see or read WHERE Mike from Texas claims Thailand or Ethiopia are in the Middle East..? He only and rightly stated that slavery of maids is very common in the Middle East , which it is..! Ignorance is bliss...

[JOC]

Slave owners 2015!! Times has indeed changed.................

[JOC]

This problem is very common in the middle east.

Being from Texas and all, this might come as a surprise to you:

Neither Thailand nor Ethiopia are in the Middle East!!

Look as I may JOC, I cannot see or read WHERE Mike from Texas claims Thailand or Ethiopia are in the Middle East..? He only and rightly stated that slavery of maids is very common in the Middle East , which it is..! Ignorance is bliss...

It was meant as a friendly joke.

My dogs understood that!!

Ignorance is indeed bliss...................

[taony]

A few weeks passed since she was meant to go back to Ethiopia and when she was found crying in the street. What happened in between?

[sungod]

I've worked in Iraq for 11 years I can produce about 20 payslips in total, payslips prove nothing it's a bit of paper.

What is more pertinent is her work permit and visa which people dismissed earlier, her employer will have applied for her visa, but maybe she didn't need one if he has diplomatic status?

Interesting point about diplomatic status because if he has it changes the whole picture. Remember the furor and diplomatic incident last year when US authorities arrested an indian diplomat over alleged offences involving a maid ?

I have no idea if the head of mission of various UN agencies in each country will have it, can anyone expand ?

The way I understand it is that he only has diplomatic immunity with relation to the work he does, anything outside that spehere is not covered.

[ggt]

WHO would have thought...that a WHO official was the person WHO would abuse his maid WHO would be rescued by WHO knows after trying to commit suicide...WHO?

[Enoon]

Slave owners 2015!! Times has indeed changed.................

Country-Dir-Yonas-Tegegn-with-Amb-on-23012015.jpg

If your comment is intended to imply or suggest that Africans enslaving Africans is a new, recent, or "modern" development you would be greatly mistaken. Black and Brown men were enslaving black, brown and white men for hundreds of years before "The Atlantic Slave Trade" (the carefully structured mass export of slaves to "The New World") commenced. The ownership of slaves was common throughout early and medieval African kingdoms. It also endured (white on white) for a surprisingly long time in Europe and, perhaps not so surprisingly, in Russia.

This is a fascinating read by Hugh Thomas:

The Slave Trade: History of the Atlantic Slave Trade, 1440 ...

Or, as always:

Atlantic slave trade - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"The African continent was bled of its human resources via all possible routes. Across the Sahara, through the Red Sea, from the Indian Ocean ports and across the Atlantic. At least ten centuries of slavery for the benefit of the Muslim countries (from the ninth to the nineteenth).... Four million enslaved people exported via the Red Sea, another four million^[20] through the Swahili ports of the Indian Ocean, perhaps as many as nine million along the trans-Saharan caravan route, and eleven to twenty million (depending on the author) across the Atlantic Ocean".^[21]

The white man did not invent the African slave trade.

Slavery in Russia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Edited April 5, 2015 by Enoon

[bangon04]

"Tegegn added that he hoped both the media and Thailand's legal system would "give us a fair chance to clear our name".

seems highly unlikely, so far.....

Have we considered - a) the maid really does not want to go back to Ethiopia?

she has been coached by a "well-meaning" ngo / busybody?

c) she saw a way to make some money from her employer?

or of course the whole story could be completely true.....

[Fat Haggis]

I've worked in Iraq for 11 years I can produce about 20 payslips in total, payslips prove nothing it's a bit of paper.

What is more pertinent is her work permit and visa which people dismissed earlier, her employer will have applied for her visa, but maybe she didn't need one if he has diplomatic status?

Interesting point about diplomatic status because if he has it changes the whole picture. Remember the furor and diplomatic incident last year when US authorities arrested an indian diplomat over alleged offences involving a maid ?

I have no idea if the head of mission of various UN agencies in each country will have it, can anyone expand ?

The way I understand it is that he only has diplomatic immunity with relation to the work he does, anything outside that spehere is not covered.

If he has diplomatic immunity it means he's covered full time, many transgressions have been unable to be prosecuted due to their immunity.

I would seriously doubt he only has partial immunity if there is such a thing? Why would he need diplomaric immunity for just his working back ground ?

I'll need to dig into the immunity thing more, the shooter of WPC Yvonne Fletcher had full immunity when he was in the Libyan embassy, and couldn't be brought to trial, it makes no sense having partial immunity really.

Just a quick bit of digging it seems NGOs don't normally get immunity based on the1961 Vienna convention, and in the UK immunity extend to family and household members too. Not sure how Thailand practices diplomatic Immunity though

Edited April 6, 2015 by Fat Haggis